The 99th Platoon: WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz
by gappap
Summary: WWW, former Tediz officer turned good, has been having weird dreams lately...dreams that grow increasingly real as time passes. Sarge of course isn't going to let like that happen. 'Cause nobody messes with his Platoon...
1. La Reveille

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Well, it's that time of year again. When I get the urge to write something. This is, as you by now know, another 99th Platoon mission. The basics: This whole story was written up at gamefaqs.com by a group of individuals working together. We all had our say in the story. I did not start it off. All credit for the idea and all ideas that are not BFD related belong to him, WWW, the creator of this mission. I have his permission to re-write the story into a readable fashion. Right now I'm sifting through the posts trying to string it together. Unlike the first 99th Platoon mission I'm going to skip the boring introduction profiles. You know most of the team anyway. Aright then, let the games begin!)  
  


Chapter 1: La Reveille  
  
_"Come back…"  
"Who's there?"  
"Come back…"  
"Hello? Hello!"  
"Come back…to your leader…"  
"My what?"  
"Your leader…your true leader…"  
"My leader is Sergeant Rico!"  
"No…you are wrong. There is no black and white any more. Just shades of grey."  
"What the hell?"  
  
"There is only grey. There are only the Tediz. Come back…re-join the Tediz army…"  
"**WHAT?!** NEVER! I HAVE SWORN ALLEGIANCE WITH THE SQUIRRELS! I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!"  
  
"Oh you will…**IN TIME!!!**"  
  
"NEVER!"_ The Tediz woke up. Sweat dripped off of his face as his pulse raced. His pillow was damp. He ran a brown paw over his head and placed his head in his hands. He felt physically, as well as mentally, drained. He turned to look at his clock.  
1:05 AM.  
"What the hell was that all about?" he mumbled to himself. He sighed as he fell backwards back onto his bed. He lay there for a while, tossing and turning, punching his pillow and pursuing other activities of the restless mind.  
            

"It was so real…" he said out loud to the walls. He needed to talk to someone. Chael was perhaps also suffering from insomnia, wondering why he was **still** unable to get his C-4 the size of a thimble to blow.   
"Whatever it is, he's working on one thing or another…"  
The door squeaked loudly as he left the room.  
  
Beethoven's Fur Elise sung softly through the slightly ajar door to Chael's lab. A voice hummed along with the tune over the low hum and buzz of machinery.   
  
*tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa*  
  
"Hmmm…"  
  
*tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa*  
  
"Oh. I see now…Right!"  
  
*tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa- tapa*  
  
"Sweet! Sweet, sweet, sweet!"  
  
"Hey Chael!" whispered WWW. The two white squirrel ears poked over the computer screen. Soon followed the pinkish-red eyes and the Albino squirrel showed itself. It was Chael, resident Sniper, Explosives Expert and Science Freak.  
  
"WWW! I got it! I have just made," he paused for effect, "The shrinkable unit! We no longer have to carry around our stuff in heavy bags! We shrink them into this container that, with the push of a single button, expands into a walking armoury, lab, pizza store, ANYTHING!" he finished.   
WWW's face remained blank.   
"So, what are you doin' up? You still aren't pissed over that Goldeneye match you lost last week are you?"  
  
"Video games," thought WWW, "They'll help me relax…" He looked at Chael and grinned. "Best out of three?" he asked Chael. Chael set up the console.  
  
-~-Later-~-  
"Yeah…squeeeeeze the trigger…"  
  
*BAM*  
  
The, for WWW, all too familiar death music played as yet another sniper bullet lodged into his character's head. Chael looked at his Tediz friend.  
  
"You okay? You look distracted."  
"I am."  
"T'sup?"  
"Well, it's about this dream I've been having over the last few weeks. It's been getting all the more stronger and more intense as it goes along. Tonight's one though…freaked me out Chael."   
He gave Chael the details of the dream.   
"So, what do you make of it?"  
  
"Hmmm," he put down his control, "From what you've told me…it's my professional opinion that you, my friend, are being brainwashed. Subtle, starting softly at first, if they went straight to the good stuff the R.E.M. levels would skyrocket, Alpha wave patterns would change and your brain would blow up."   
WWW winced.   
"But I can't be sure before running a few tests. Come over here for a second."  
  
Chael hooked WWW up to what looked like a polygraph.  
  
"Just something I've been working on. Still experimental but I think for this case it should work…Right, put your hand here aaaaaand yep that's right. Now, this might sting a bit…"  
  
*wwwwwwwwwwwwiiiiirrrrrrrr*  
  
*ZAP*  
  
"OW! What the hell was that?!" yelled WWW releasing his arm from the cables. "What the hell are those?! Jump cables? Wait…they are jump cables…"  
"Hey I'm kinda short on funding alright? Give me a god dang break…"  
"So what did that do?"  
"Recorded brain activity over a period ranging as far as 3 hours back…good thing you came when you did…otherwise it wouldn't have worked…Yep. Here's the read out…"   
The printer connected to the machine spewed forth paper.   
"Yeah. Here is where you were playing Goldeneye with me. Dang! I can see why you were losing…"  
"Cut to the bloody point will you?"  
"Alright! All right…here, as I thought. Increased brain activity when it should be slowing down. It appears like they're tapping into a memory bank, or something like that, that keeps you and them connected. A strong memory build up occurred around 10 to 9 years ago. About the time you switched sides. Curious."  
"What's curious?"  
"Nothing. Just had a thought."  
"What?"  
"Forget it. Isn't possible. Anyway, look, get some sleep and go see Sarge in the morning. I heard Anthrax was throwin' a party tonight at his pub. You can go catch them before they get to some Alka-Seltzer" Chael grinned.  
"I'll take photos," WWW grinned back. He thanked Chael and made his way back to his room.  
  
-~-At the Pub-~-  
It was only 8 am when the door to Anthrax's Pub swung open, but still the whole Platoon could be seen lying wasted, scattered around the pub. Anthrax was wiping the bench clean when WWW walked up to him.  
  
"Well if it isn't my good friend WWW. You missed a live one last night."  
"So sue me…"  
"I would if you guys would stop trashin' my joint."  
"Trashing? It's called redecorating."  
"Riiiiiiigh," the bartender laughed. "Can I fetcha sumat on the house?"  
"Thanks. Just a soda, still too early for a night cap."  
"Will do."  
  
WWW admired the Platoon's handiwork. Sarge was seen sleeping with his feet on the couch, eyes covered under a metallic grey army helmet.   
His cousin, Deja, had her feet stretched out in front of her as she occupied the other side. Her chin rested on her chest and rose and fell with its breathing.   
From underneath Sarge's helmet an eyelid opened. Sarge tipped the edge of his helmet up.  
  
"What's the matter soldier?" he asked. WWW jerked his head towards the nearest table. Sarge took the hint and carefully made his way across.  
  
WWW began his long story. Sarge listened half-heartedly until a certain point…then he sat up and stared intently. Moments later he was tying his shoelaces tight and buttoning the cuffs on his sleeves.  
  
"Hey Anthrax! Gimme the Reveille!"  
  
The bartender nodded knowingly and placed the CD in the player.  
  
**_*brrrrrrrrrrr Updidirrrrr UPDIRIDRRR DRRR DIII DRRR*  
_**  
"Wha?! WHA?! WHA??!?!"  
"I'm up! I'm up!"  
"Shut uuuuuuupppp…"  
"Gimme a break! It's Sunday for Pete's sake!"  
"TURN OFF THE SODDING STEREO!!!!"  
  
"HQ! Now! No questions asked! Get your asses into fifth gear and pronto!" The door was slammed shut and the Sergeant was out of the room. 10 seconds later tires were scrapping away at gravel.  
  
Pyst held his head in his hands. Red veins were throbbing in his eyes.  
"It's gonna be one of those days…"  
  
-~-That night-~-  
"Come. Come to where King Conker ploughed through our initial base. Come…and reap the harvest."


	2. Civil disputes

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz**

  
(A/N Let's see…if any of you are wondering Anthrax is just a guest star. He isn't part of the Platoon but he ran a mean Pub back in the day. Also, just in the event that I don't get Escape From Batula's Castle finished before this one, hold on to your seats – you will learn about The Agency soon enough. This chapter was originally one page long and I had to fluff it up a bit. So to any of the Platoon out there: That last scene I know is completely fictional and put in there only because I can't give in a one page chapter. So two and a bit is more like it.)  
  
Chapter 2: Civil disputes  
  
A green "snooker" light hung over the oak desk. The shades  were half drawn allowing only one beam of light to fall over the face of Conker, King and head of The Agency. Conker lay back in the chair smoking a cigar.  
  
"You know, smoking is bad for your health," commented Sarge.  
"If the Tediz don't get me first..." retaliated Conker.  
"We'll protect you."  
"Right. And blow up everything I do and do not own in the process?"  
"Hey the pay ain't that good," laughed Rico. Conker puffed a smoke ring. Sarge respected the moment of silence. It hung like a grey blanket over the room.  
  
"I s'posse you wanna know about our quick little recon we pulled for you"  
"If you could, yeah I'd appreciate it."  
"40."  
"Right. So that means, what, 100-500?"  
"Shouldn't be a problem."  
"Who said it was?"  
"I ain't sayin' nothin'"  
  
"..."  
  
"We can't cover you. This is about you and your boy. Tediz f-"  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing."  
"You got a problem with my team, Conker?"  
"Hey, I never said any-"  
  
"Listen here pretty boy. You may be King but we can drop you like a hot potato Conker. Don't push it."  
"Look, Sarge, relax alright? Your team. Your rules. All I'm saying is-" Conker silenced himself as Sarge gave him the death stare. "Just remember we can't come in after you. The Agency will not take responsibility for this incident, should the stuff hit the fan."  
"I understand."  
  
"If you make it through with minimal collateral damage, you get a bigger pay check."   
Sarge stood up and had his hand on the door handle when Conker spoke up.  
  
"And you got a new member too."  
"Rank?"  
"Private."  
"Specialty?"  
"Avionics."  
"Codename?"  
"Ricy."  
  
"Okay then" were the Sergeants final words. The door slammed shut. Conker mashed the cigar butt in an ashtray.  
  
"Good luck Sarge..."  
  
The newest recruit to the group was sitting in the middle of the mess room being given a "warm welcome" by some of the gang.  
"So Rice…" began Pyst.  
"It's Ricy" replied the snowy-white Hawk. Pyst snorted.  
"I've always wondered, who the hell thinks up of these so called 'Codenames' ?" Deja commented.  
  
"Beats me," replied Pyst, "but when I find out, I'll call you."   
Deja patted her firearm.   
Ricy ruffled his wings and then folded them tightly behind his back, giving him a slightly "hunched" look. Chael was the only one not getting involved in the name-game. He understood Ricy's situation. Like himself, Ricy was also an Albino. They shared the same snowy colouring and pink-red eyes.   
  
Birds in general were not a common sight in the army. If you wanted to see any specie of bird you would look towards the air force. A scarcity to find back in the days of WWT all the more new specie were moving into the Windy Kingdom.   
  
Ricy had his arms folded and drummed his fingers on his arm. They were the clawed, scaly texture of any raptor. Slightly different from the standard Squirrel, Ricy's sidearm was easily made out as a custom order.  
  
"So, Snowy…" began Pyst. Chael punched Pyst squarely in the back of the head.  
"Shut up Beef-Boy. Your flapping mouth 'll get you into trouble some day."  
"Who you calling Beef-Boy?"  
"You Brainiacs."  
"You wanna piece of me?!"  
"How much per pound? Is there a special discount per 10?  
"That's it! Outside! N-"  
  
***WHAM*  
  
**"I will not tolerate petty squabbling in this unit. Have I made myself clear? All of you better shut up and get serious because this isn't going to be an easy in 'n' out job! So shut your traps before I get some serious discipline training going on ALL of you!"  
No one had noticed Sarge's entrance into the room. Twisted and Mon quickly slid the betting odds they had drawn up under the couch.  
  
"This is NOT the girl scouts ladies!" began Sarge he though carefully before adding, "No offence meant Deja."  
"Well he started it," contested Pyst.  
"Did not!" yelled Chael.  
"Did too!"  
"Did not!"  
"Did too!"  
"Did too!"  
"He absolutely positively did not!"   
Chael grinned.  
  
"That was my point exactly. Now we see why I'm the brain and you're the guy with the big guns."   
Sarge rubbed his temples.  
"I need an aspirin."


	3. Row, row, row your boat

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Chapter one was "Lights!" Chapter two was "Camera!" and I can safely say that Chapter 3 is most definitely "Action!" Ignore that long and dull part that mentions who's there and who isn't. I did that for myself, so I know whom I can write as to…I'm babbling. On with the story.)  
  
Chapter 3: Row, row, row your boat…  
  
The Platoon poured out of their cramped transport and onto the docks. They formed two lines and Sarge stood in front facing them all.  
"I suspect you want me to give some encouraging pep-talk that'll raise the morale levels to hopefully something around a ten. On a scale of 100," started Sarge.  
"You really know how to kill the mood don't you Sarge?"  
  
"Shut up or you'll get stuck with the bags. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted – someone out there is messing with one of my Platoon's head. This particular member has proved to be a lifesaver on many occasions. But besides that, he's simply one of us. What those stupid bastards don't realise is that if they take on one bird they have to take on the whole flock! 'Cause Ducks stick together! And if you take on one Duck, you better be sure that the whole flock will be pecking at your ass till the day that hell freezes over!"  
  
A silence hovered in the air. Sarge stood slightly awkward. "Ah…fuck that shit…it sounded better in that movie last night…"  
"So, where's our boat?" asked Joshua "Flatfeet" Evans. Dark squatted on his haunches. His trench coat lay around him like a dark lake, rippling into infinity.  
"Patience my friend. It is a virtue," mumbled the panther. Squeaky F. Acore dusted off some ash from his pants.  
"Yeah. One they we don't have"  
  
RedStorm was going through his stuff one last time while Stealth leaned quietly against a pole. Renato "DaMedic" Mon was packing the 1st aid kit. Chael was sitting next to Rick "Pyst" Gores, Ricy and Dana "Deja" Rodriguez. Secret Agent 00-Oreos was having a cup of coffee. WWW, ILZ and Kenny "CoolGuy" Johnson were looking out for any sign of the boat. Snickers was having an argument with Sarge, whether Light Artillery was better than Heavy Artillery. Twisted was lying on his backpack, until he saw the boat.  
  
"Oh. My. God."  
"You've got to be shittin' me"  
  
The Sea-Dog Squirrel Captain tied the old, rotten and beaten down, rather large rowboat to the pier. The Captain marched straight up to Sarge…and kept on marching.  
  
"There she is," announced WWW.  
"Now that! That is a boat and a half!" exclaimed Chael.  
"I pieced it together with some Mech. equipment from Komiz Isle. It's even got a mini bio lab."  
"I love you man."  
"Just don't go yelling that too loud."  
  
The boat was quite impressive, to say the least. Measuring 30 feet long and 15 feet wide, there was more than enough space ("That means I don't get stuck with the bags!") WWW took the controls, a complicated display of buttons, displays and beeping beacons. The steel laminate look characteristic of the type 12 Mech. shone in the dying sun. They would approach the island under cover of darkness. There was a loud roar and the engines began to churn the water, making it a frothy white instead of a dark navy. Flatfeet moved closer to the control panel.  
  
"Hey! What does this do?" he asked pointing to a tiny red button. WWW grabbed Flatfeet's paw.  
"Don't ever, EVER, press the little red button with out good reason."  
"Sorry ma."  
"Shut up and get at the back of the boat"  
  
As the boat sped along the waves each soldier was left with his memories of the horrors that were experienced in World War Tediz. It was Squeaky who spoke first.  
  
"I swore I'd never go back to that place..."  
"I don't exactly have the best of memories from there either…" mumbled Sarge. WWW suddenly swooned.  
"Yo? You okay?" asked Pyst. WWW nodded.  
"Yeah...fine...just...gotta sit down...yeah...I just keep thinking about the general..."  
"General? You mean the commander you killed?" asked Sarge.  
  
"Yeah, #642. I was only a private in the Tediz armies yet he treated me like something really important... I just don't understand why. Never have. Never will I guess…"  
  
A long and awkward silence followed. It was a while till any sound was heard.  
  
"Auto-piloting disengaged." WWW walked over to the control room and noticed 10 red blips on the radar. "The enemy is attacking from the sea!"  
  
As if on cue a Tediz in a wetsuit and diving gear propelled out of the water. Pyst punched it in the face.  
"I LOVE MY JOB!!!"  
  
WWW drew his magnum and blasted the stunned Tediz in the chest. Yellow-green gore poured out of the wound, spraying Pyst across the face. Stealth finished it off with a diagonal slash. The Tediz gurgled as life bubbled out of its lips. Stealth moved to the edge of the boat.  
  
Three more amphibians leapt out of the water. The first grabbed WWW by the throat and threw him over board. Dark was quick to act. Within seconds he had thrown his "S" shaped boomerang at the assailants. Blade met stitching. It was like trying to stop a speeding bullet with tissue paper. He caught it in the palm of his hand. Blood dripped off of the edges.  
  
Squeaky had a Tediz trapped between two constant streams of flame.  
"Do you smell something burning?!?" screamed Squeaky. The Tediz shrieked and leapt into the water. The charred carcass remained floating…a lifeless buoy. "You're no fun!"  
  
Pyst had already loaded his uzis with a fresh magazine. He and Oreos had found a corner of the boat were they could shoot at anything poking its head over the edge. Tediz would climb back up, only to be chased back into the water by flaming lead.  
  
A Tediz had moved its way to the back of the boat. It snuck up behind the unsuspecting Squirrels. As it lifted itself into the boat it found itself face to face with the barrel of a shotgun and a grenade launcher's chamber. Deja and Sarge smiled.  
"Oh shay-" the Tediz manage to splutter.  
  
***BLAM* *WHUMP*  
  
**Iron Lion Zion sat at the very back next to Chael. The two snipers had loaded their rifles.  
"Tha most damage with won bullet, right mon?" drawled the Jamaican. Chael nodded. The two fired simultaneously. Two Tediz hit the deck. Headless.  
  
CoolGuy, RedStorm, Snickers and Flatfeet had taken a Tediz spear. They were passing it around in a game of "keep-a-way"  
"Look guys, just let him have it," said Mon the Medic. Flatfeet smiled.  
"Whatever you say," he said as he squeezed the trigger. The speared Tediz was flung into the water.  
  
The final tediz refused to get out of the water. And for a reason. He had an aqua-rocket strapped to his oxygen tanks.  
  
"I'll get it!" stated Ricy enthusiastically. He wanted to prove himself worthy. He spread his wings wide and launched into the air.  
"Soldier! Get down NOW! That is an order!" yelled Sarge. Ricy disobeyed. The Tediz casually unhinged his spear-shooter and aimed at the easy target.  
  
"Chick-chick on a stick" hissed the Tediz. The spear went flying straight into Ricy's right wing. The hawk let out a cry of pain before plummeting into the ocean.  
  
The Tediz wasted no time. He aimed the rocket at the centre of the ship. He squeezed the trigger and instantly blew up.  
Twisted stood at the edge of the boat, his rocket launcher smoking, showing who was responsible for the Tediz spontaneous combustion.  
  
Flatfeet took the controls and drove over to the two over-boards. Mon quickly placed Ricy flat on the floor. He opened up his case and patched up the wing. Ricy was mumbling to himself something that sounded like, "Stupid moron. Stupid, stupid moron" Mon patted him on the shoulder.  
"Don't worry kid. It happens to the best of us."  
  
WWW on the other hand was a different story.  
  
"Laugh and I'll break your face in I swear it. I'm just a natural sponge," the bloated figure of a swelled WWW bobbed up and down in the water. Pyst was the first one to burst out laughing. The rest soon followed suit. Even WWW joined in. And there they stood laughing, on a boat, amidst the floating dead bodies of ten dead Tediz.  
  
What a wonderful world.


	4. The Seagull has landed

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Exactly one week before school starts I try to finish at least one of my promised fic's. It doesn't look like I'll be able to finish both. Sorry guys. I know I promised otherwise but…anyway, this one will be done. I think this will have the same length as the first fic. 14-15 chapters. But EFBC is something along the lines of 18-20. Ah well. Moving right along. The clock is ticking…)  
  
Chapter 4: The Seagull has landed.  
  
"Hell that was quick. Look, every body, get your heads down and crouch low at the edge of the boat. WWW, can you still pilot us there?" Sarge asked.   
WWW nodded.   
"Right," he removed his DD44 from its holster. "Remember we're trying to go for surprise here. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."  
  
They took up positions as WWW turned the sound of the engine to a whisper as they approached "whisker" territory.  
  
The fatal sound activated bombs surrounded the last 30 metres to the island. The beach had not changed since World War Tediz.   
The giant "X's" that had been the Squirrel's cover for The Assault were now coated in rust. Giant craters marked the sand where, years ago, mortar shells had exploded. A tank had overturned and was half buried in the sand, layers of slimy moss coating the skywards-facing treads. The base was now entirely made up of a broken gun turret and two towers half broken at the top. The entire centre section had collapsed in the suicidal explosion triggered by The Experiment.  
  
Sarge paused and remembered the voices…thousands of young, eager Squirrels sent out to do the dying. The barbed-wire fences marked the graves of thousands of unknown soldiers. The sound of gunfire snapped Sarge out of his daze.  
  
*whirrrrrrrrrrrr*  
  
"Who fired!?" yelled Sarge. The Platoon didn't know. The floating metal spheres in the water were humming. "WWW! Get us outta here!"  
  
"I'm on it!" replied the Tediz. He revved up the engine and the boat kicked into full speed. The whiskers were already disassembling themselves. Metal plates were being slid backwards to reveal 50 millimetre calibre weapons. WWW's eyes went wide. "Sarge! There's no place to dock!"  
Sarge looked at the thousands of activating whiskers.  
  
"IMPROVISE!"  
  
*whiiRRRRRRRRR*  
  
"Think! Think, think, think, think!!!" WWW spotted the overturned tank. He turned the boat to face the tank. Behind them the whiskers were lock and loading.  
  
*GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA*  
  
The hair on Sarge's neck rose as he saw the stream of explosive bullets flying towards the boat. The boat hit the tank treads and propelled itself out of the water, flying through the air, while the bullets slammed into the tank. Bullet after bullet narrowly skimmed the boat's underbelly, but still the extra height had saved the boat from destruction. Sort of.  
  
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"   
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"  
"WAIT! WAIT! HOLY SHIT!"  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*  
  
Amidst the smoke and rubble the Platoon, groggily at first, crawled out from the remains of the boat. They looked around them. To their left was the beach and further to the right was a newly sprouted forest. They had never been able to see the island all at once like this. It was bigger than it looked from the beach alone. The two black, charred towers stood out against the sun. WWW was the first to speak.  
  
"Ugh, home sweet home..."  
"Home? This place is a dump!" said Sarge.  
"I was being sarcastic!" replied WWW. Pyst shook his head.  
"I have a bad feeling about this."  
"I don't have any feeling at all!" shrugged Squeaky  
  
*WHAM*   
  
"Shutting up..."  
  
Sarge took control of the situation.  
"Alright boys"  
"ER-HEM!" Deja.  
"Okay squirrels"  
"ER-HEM!" Dark, Ricy and WWW.  
"Okay soldiers"  
"ER-" *WHAM* "Shutting up"  
"Set up a temporary base over by that pile of rubble, it'll give us some shelter. A storm's brewing...Better be quick."  
He swung his pack off and walked to the burned out shed he indicated and began unpacking his weapons.  
"Hope for the best. Pack for the worst."  
  
Chael pulled out a metal case and unlocked it. He took out his retractable rail-gun and Slayer. He then started to put his Sniper Rifle together. Finally he took out a capsule storage unit and enlarged it. He began taking inventory of his ammo.  
"50 clips rifle ammo, 5 extra cells, and 200 Slayer rockets. I should be set." he miniaturized the unit.  
"I love my new lab facilities."  
  
Chael kept looking through the other storage units he had for explosives, weapon parts, and ammo. He found lots of mines; various weapon parts, ammo, some bores and a cerebral possessor. Chael began to work on the parts to see if he could make anything.  
  
"You sure you didn't pack heavy Chael?"  
"Sure"  
Sarge looked down at his "luggage" His shotgun, twin Dostovei's, an ammo belt for each, three grenades, a radio and a canteen of water.  
"Riiiight"  
  
As the Platoon was working frantically to set up a temporary base, RedStorm sat outside of the group starring at the setting sun. Sarge came and sat down next to him. Sarge sat down slowly, taking his time to bend his knees and assert himself.  
RedStorm noticed, for the first time, that their leader was ageing.  
  
"I'm not the squirrel I used to be you know," laughed Sarge.  
"Nah. You'll be fine Sarge. You keep up good shape."  
"Thanks soldier," he laughed, "I'm not that old. Just...ageing," he laughed again. "So. What's on your mind boy?"  
  
In the background the smoking rubble of the former Tediz stronghold was visible, along with the brewing storm in the sky. Occasionally a Platoon member would pass in front of the two Squirrels, blocking the picture from view.   
  
"No, I was just wondering why everyone is so freaked out about this place."  
A pause…then…  
"It wasn't the best of times soldier." He paused again. "War is a terrible thing yunno."  
"Yes it is. Yes it is."  
"I mean, would you look at that," he pointed to the charred out island.  
"It sure is something."  
"Yeah. The horror..._the horror..."  
  
_A breeze picked up. The two squirrels gazed into the sky, each lost in their own thoughts. After a minute of silence Sarge got up, patted RedStorm on the shoulder, then went back to work. RedStorm sighed.  
  
"Sarge…I…ummm…how can I say this? I sorta smuggled a non-military…my…umm…remember my wife Cherry? You married us. Well she, she's here too."  
"I already know that Flatfeet"  
"You do?"  
"Yeah. Just give her a weapon then finish setting up the tents" Sarge left Flatfeet starring dumbstruck into thin air.  
"That went better than I thought," he mumbled as he walked off towards his wife, Cherry.  
  
Cherry was already acquainted with Deja, the two got on well. Cherry was much taller than Flatfeet, and much slimmer too. She bore a striking resemblance to Deja, save for the fact that Cherry had flaming red hair and Deja's hair was jet black. The only two females on the expedition were also quite short tempered.  
  
"Hey ladies. Want the medic to give you a physical?" grinned Mon with his cheesiest smile. Deja walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
"Mon…"  
"Yes Deja?"  
  
*WHAM*  
  
Mon's manhood was crushed by Deja's knee.  Squeaky cringed in sympathy pains. Cherry laughed as Deja sat observing her handiwork.  
  
"I'll be going to my tent now," squeaked Mon. Cherry laughed.  
"I'm surprised he didn't scream."  
  
"**YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"  
  
**"Scratch that."


	5. A bullet in the night

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Read and Review. R & R. Toy's  'R' Us. WoRld foR kids. R. R, R, R, R, R, R, R! R and R!

[After those fifteen seconds of useless Author's note filling…] Next chapter please)  
  
Chapter 5: A bullet in the night.  
  
With the setting of the sun the Platoon reported to the tents. The assault was to begin a few hours before daybreak. The darkness turned out to be more of a hinder than anything else. Black. Pitch black.  
  
Flatfeet lay awake staring at the nylon ceiling of the two-man tent. Cherry had her arms wrapped around his chest. Flatfeet's eyes starred at that one spot in the ceiling, till they drifted…drifted…and took Flatfeet's mind back…back to before.  
  
**-=FLASHBACK=-  
  
**Gunshot fire was ringing all day, and a much younger Flatfeet was being led by his squad leader, along with other squirrels.   
"Damn these furry freaks! Chris, take the left tower with your sniper rifle! Pawn guard Chris! Flatfeet, go on offence with Isaac and Sid!" yelled Flatfeet's C.O.  
"We have to clear the way for the assault!"  
"Okay sir!" said Chris, taking his sniper rifle and picking off Tediz in the left tower. He was going fine, until he spotted a Tediz with a sniper rifle looking straight at him. "Lord, accept my..." he began, but could not finish with only half a face remaining.   
  
"Chris! No!" screamed Isaac, going on offence too early. "You'll pay!" his voice full of anger.  
"Wait Isaac, come back, it's too early!" shouted the C.O., but Isaac was dead before he even finished.  
"DAMN IT! Alright guys, let's move to that shelter there, now go!" ordered the C.O. He and the squad ran to the small shelter.   
"That's it! Pawn, go throw a grenade!" he continued. Pawn, a rather young squirrel, was extremely nervous about this, and he dropped the grenade.   
"D-don't worry, I'll get it!" he said, wandering a bit too far looking for it.   
"No, come back!" shouted Flatfeet, but a napalm bomb a Tediz threw at him set Pawn alight. He screamed in pain, the C.O. was about to go after him but a hail of turret-fire stopped him.  
  
As soon as the guns stopped to reload, the squad leader was out there to save him.   
"NO!" screamed Flatfeet and Sid, but the C.O. was already out there. As he neared Pawn, Pawn fell to the ground, still flaming, but dead.   
"Shit!" cried the C.O. but as he tried his best to make it back, his leg was shot, sending him to the ground.   
"Capt', no!!" cried the remaining squad, as they watched him get shot repeatedly until he was a bloody mess.   
  
"This is not going to work now!" cried Sid. He barely finished when a missile came and blew the shelter into bits of metal. It sent Flatfeet and Sid flying through the air, back towards the beach. Flatfeet landed with a piece of metal stuck in his arm. Sid had a chunk lodged between his eyes.  
  
"NO!" shouted Flatfeet in despair.  Sarge, before he met Flatfeet officially, came behind the screaming soldier and slammed him in the back of the head. He dragged him into safety. The next day Flatfeet was recruited into the 99th Platoon under a fake jury notice drawn up by Sarge. He had seen potential in the kid.  
And the rest, as they say, is history.  
  
-**=END FLASHBACK=-  
  
**Private Ricy lay uncomfortably on the covered floor. He felt awkward, being the lowest ranking soldier in the Platoon.   
"And sharing a tent with Sarge too!" he thought. Sarge was outside. He could hear his whispers travelling along the air. Ricy stood up. He instantly felt better. He decided he'd perch for the evening.  
"War isn't all fun and games," he thought. A sharp zap went through his injured wing. He winced. "I could've gotten myself killed being a hero today." He listened to Flatfeet retelling Cherry his sad story.  
"What if my friends got killed? How would I feel?" He grew woozy. His injuries had taken his toll on him. He went to sleep, exhausted.  
  
RedStorm and Pyst were sharing a tent. They had taken out a deck of cards and were playing gin rummy.  
  
_*………*  
  
_RedStorm perked up his ears. He signalled to Pyst to be quiet as he listened intensely.  
"What was it?" asked Pyst. RedStorm shrugged. It was hard to hear anything with the "pitter patter" of the constant rain.  
  
_*…sh…*  
  
_RedStorm lifted the tent flap. He thought he saw a light in the old sniping tower.   
"Bah. Probably just rain." He dismissed it.  
  
Medical Officer Renato "DaMedic" Mon had a hard time trying to set up his tent, considering the only tent building experience he ever got was in those two months he spent at summer camp each year. Needless to say, all his tents were rather pathetic.   
  
But with trial and error and some help from Sarge, he had managed to pitch up a formidable looking tent. The tent was sized to accommodate one, so as to leave space for the medic supplies. The army's medic sign, a white circle with a red cross in the middle decorated the exterior. He went to take one last check on Ricy and his wing. He was fast asleep muttering something about Tediz and vengeance. Oh well.   
  
Some things have to wait for another day. He said his goodnights, crawled into his sleeping bag and shut off too.  
  
Chael popped a caffeine pill and set down some tools. He started to think of the time he spent on the Beach. Where he first met Sarge.   
Conker, now King and Head of the Agency, was running down the beach towards the last boat. Machine gun fire was snapping away at his tail. Three Tediz were running after Conker with bazookas armed and ready to fire. Sarge yelled for the nearest sniper. Chael took aim. Three dead bodies hit the ground.  
WWW, his tent-mate, tapped Chael on the shoulder. Chael snapped out of his trance.  
"You okay?"  
"Been better." He rubbed his eyes. He looked down at the bits and pieces in front of him and began welding something together. WWW shook his head.  
  
Deja had set up a little foldout-chair and parked herself down by the beach under a little umbrella, enjoying the soft sound of the rain. She was painting her nails. Sarge who had finished checking on the rest of the Platoon came and sat next to Deja. He could not sleep either. He almost died here. Thousands actually did die. All died under his command. Not the best of times. They sat outside in the darkness, with the occasional reassuring thunder from the hanging grey clouds.  
  
"What's wrong Rico?" She blew softly on her freshly painted nails. She respected the quiet Sarge wanted and neither said anything. Past and Future. Large and Small. Alike yet Different. 39 year old and 24 year old. Sarge sighed.  
  
"Well it all stared when…"  
  
The time flew and the two relatives sat staring at the stars, the only sound the sound of Sarge's voice.  
  
"And that's about it really...Not the best of times, for sure."  
"Don't worry Rico," she paused, smiling, "I'll look after you."  
"Thank you Dana." He smiled and put his arm around his cousin, giving her a friendly hug. They both got up and walked next to each other. "Big Brother" Sarge shielded his younger cousin.  
  
Good thing he was shielding his younger cousin.  
  
A moment later a bullet was lodged in between his neck and his shoulder.  
He gave out a loud groan and fell down dragging Deja down with him. She ran for cover doing the best to drag Sarge with her. His wound was not critical but was spewing large amounts of blood.   
  
Deja looked back to try and get a glimpse of whatever hit Sarge. A bullet hit her shoulder, narrowly missing her heart. More groans, more blood.  
Cherry was having just as hard a time sleeping. As Deja hit the ground, Cherry turned her head in that direction. Lucky.  
  
A bullet whizzed through and shot off the tip of her black nose.  
  
Mon woke up due to the cries of pain. He was out in the open rubbing his eyes. Sleep had taken its toll on him. He looked one way; there was Cherry with a bleeding nose. He ran to her. He heard something and there was Sarge and Deja. Both spewing blood that would rival Old Faithful. He called out for help.   
Those that were of able body woke up and carried the three to three separate stretchers.  
  
It was obvious that the abandoned Crow's Nest was not as abandoned as it looked.  
  
The Master Sniper saw no need to fire anymore. This had simply been a warning shot. Clearly, the choice was to flee or get shot one by one.  
  
"_Eye-a gotta tha femal Squiggy…_the large _Squiggy_ and _tha civlian_." Stated the Master. His commander nodded pleased.  
  
"Good. Rest now. Shoot again tomorrow."  
The Master turned, his black cloak wrapped tight around him.  
  
(A/N that bit where the Master is speaking is kinda like in "The Hunt for Red October" where the actors change language slowly from Russian to English. Or in this case Tediz to English)


	6. Under cover of darkness

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N You know how hard it is to find something to put in these ridiculous spaces? Anyway, as you can tell from the last chapter - a favourite chapter of mine to be exact – things are getting serious. With that said let me clarify it from now, the Tediz from this point onwards shall speak in easy to understand English. But to the characters in the story it's as good as if they were hearing babble. Read. Enjoy. And then, review. I just realized this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Is that a good thing or a bad? You will have to tell me)  
  
Chapter 6: Under cover of darkness  
  
"D-Deja...promised to...protect..." stammered the bleeding Sergeant. Stealth and Dark carried the stretcher to the Mess-Tent, the largest tent in the camp, as per Mon's instructions.  
  
"Shuddap Sarge. You're hit pretty badly," said Stealth.  
"But...must," stammered Sarge.  
"Dark?" asked Stealth. Dark looked up. "Shall I do it or will you?"  
  
"Go ahead…"  
"Gotta go get my shotgun and f-" started Sarge.  
  
*WHAM*   
  
"Much better...shove him in here..."  
  
Mon ran into the room followed by Chael and ILZ, sniper rifles over their shoulders.  
"Sniper fire alright," stated Chael.  
"He be gone now," finished the Jamaican.  
"How're they Mon?"  
  
"Shuttap! Gimme the scalpel! Darn, this is close to the heart...I need some one with a really steady hand."  
Stealth, the ninja, stepped forward.  
"I'll do it..."  
"You will?"  
"Sure..."  
"Okay here," he passed the tongs, "grip the bullet gently, pull firmly."  
  
Stealth knelt over the wounded. With a firm face he placed the tongs in the bleeding wound. Blood spurted across his eyes. Mon used cotton and swabbed up the blood. With a sickening "slurp" sound...  
"Got it!" He lifted the bullet up triumphantly.  
"Wey ta go boddy" smiled ILZ.  
"All right Stealth!" crowed Chael. Dark remained silent.  
  
"Great now everyone...piss off and let me do my job!" yelled Mon. The tent area was now empty save for Mon and the three injured squirrels.   
  
Pyst ran up to the rest of the Platoon. He stood, panting, covered with Tediz stuffing and holding his biggest machine gun.  
"We got a problem guys!"  
"Weren't you with WWW?" asked Squeaky.  
"I was, I went off for a minute to take a leak, when I went back, he was gone. There was a Tediz patrol waiting for me!" Pyst patted his gun. "But they can't touch me, no sir!" Chael turned to face whatever of the Platoon was there.  
  
"There's no sign of whoever shot them. So this sniper is really good. I used the x-ray scope and got nothing, so they must be deep underground or something. So until daylight comes some of us are gonna have to keep watch. We don't want any more attacks." Chael paused and looked around.  
"Wait WWW's gone. Where were you two before you came back Pyst?"  
"Taking a leak."  
"No! Before that. When you were last with WWW?"  
"Over this way."  
"Stealth, Red Storm, and ILZ, you guys go with Pyst and find WWW. ILZ keep an eye out for the sniper. The rest of you, be on your guard and have a weapon with you at all times."  
"Right."  
"Will do."  
"I'm on it mon."  
  
Moments later an explosion shook the tents. Pyst grabbed his radio.  
"Hey guys! Remember that diversion you wanted?"  
"We didn't ask for a diversion!" yelled Oreos.  
"You didn't?...oh crap..."  
Across the terrain a door opened from within the ground. Tediz troops began flowing out.  
"I don't suppose saying 'oops' would be enough would it?"  
"Damn right you stupid jack ass!"  
  
Dark was lost in the confusion, all he could see was the scarlet liquid that was still oozing from Sarge. He felt a strange feeling sweep over him. Was this sadness? He had never felt this before. It was so…different. Suddenly, his eyes hardened. His tattered trench coat flew off at a flick of his wrist. Dark slammed a fresh clip into his M16 assault rifle and attached a few grenades to his belt.  
  
The Tediz snipers fired wildly at the panther that emerged from the Platoon's place. Sand flew into the air as the bullets struck. The sand was now blood stained. Dark and his father used to refer to this place as the Crimson Battlegrounds, but his dad was gone now. All he had left was this Platoon. They were like family to him, and he wasn't going to let them go out like this.  
  
The snipers cursed as the panther dodged a bullet with his cat reflexes. As a Tediz aimed at Dark, to his surprise, a bullet penetrated the front of his scope, entering his eye and exiting out the back of his head. Greenish blood splattered the ground and Dark sent a bullet into the next Tediz. The Tediz Sargeant became frustrated. Why couldn't they beat this one panther?   
  
They were steadily calling more Tediz to the spot. One got in the big machine gun, loading it up. Dark yelled angrily, throwing his M16 aside and pulling a grenade from his belt. He flung it onto the plateau the Tediz stood upon and all he saw was an explosion and greenish blood flying in all directions. Out of nowhere, a bullet went straight through his left shoulder. The bullet hit the sand along with a splatter of blood.   
  
DarkFlame fell to one knee, pulling out an uzi and firing madly at the big machine gun. Another bullet entered his body, this one into his knee. He kept firing, yelling. His blood dripped onto the ground. Splotches of the sand became soaked, and the firing stopped. Green blood oozed down the wall of the fortress, and Dark knelt there, holding his uzi aimlessly. He had taken out practically a whole force of Tediz, but there were more inside. He forced himself to his feet and began to move towards the entrance into the fortress, limping.  
  
In the meantime a small portion of the Platoon had run out to take care of the forces.  
  
RedStorm had his back pressed against a sand dune. His breathing was rapid and loud. A Tediz ran to check out the source of the noise. Just as the Tediz poked his head over the dune RedStorm kicked his chin. The Tediz lifted his bayonet in retaliation. RedStorm blocked with his own double-bladed staff.  
"ILZ! Help!" he yelled. Sniper fire slammed into the bear's chest. It fell dead.  
Stealth, Pyst and Chael caught up.  
"Pyst! You **are** a deaf dumbass!!" yelled RedStorm.  
  
CoolGuy and Snickers were back at the base, looking at the flashes of battle. They turned to look at Mon, still tending to the victims. They were beginning to stir.  
  
Tediz surrounded Flatfeet, Squeaky, Oreos and Twisted, automatics on full arm. The Tediz laughed and jeered at the four, trapped soldiers.  
"Whose idea was this anyway!?!" yelled Twisted. Squeaky shrugged. Oreos was looking intently for a way out. Flatfeet scanned the sky…what if…  
  
Ricy's recovery could not have come at a better time. He soared through the air like a rocket. He spotted four Squirrels pinned against a rock.  
Ricy's beak twisted into an evil grin. He flew up high up. Then in an instant he started letting off hundreds of little missiles causing explosions to occur among the Tediz circle. Where there had been confident Tediz there was now nothing but scorched earth and smoking trees.  
  
The platoon members were staring at him with blank expressions as he landed next to them.   
  
"Do you like my timing?" he smirked.  
"Hell yes!" several fatigued soldiers replied. Flatfeet gave Ricy a grateful pat on the wing.  
"Owwwww, damn it! That still hurts," said Ricy.  
  
A lone soldier Tediz staggered into the room of The Master. He was currently engaged with maintenance of his gun.

He looked up in shock as the Tediz bled yellow blood all onto the floor. Bullet holes all over its body were oozing slowly. Its death was imminent.  
"We," it paused to breathe, "have a," it coughed up blood, "problem," it died there after.  
The Master Sniper casually put away his cigarette and re-assembled his gun.  
He looked at his many cloaks. The black one was instantly around his head and chest.   
  
Dark finally reached the gate. He stopped to consider the odds, he was wounded and a thousand tediz were going to kill him on the other side. He finally did something he thought he'd never do, he backed down from a fight. Just this fight. He'd kill more if he'd live more. He was already starting to fade out.  
  
Back at the base, people were taking rests, some sleeping and others taking the first shift.   
  
"The snipers could be a problem. On the other hand, without the doctor they can't properly heal," commented Mon, having finally finished surgery he was washing his hands of blood.  
  
Normal snipers would wait for an explosion or gunshot to fire. The Master waited for a gust of wind.  
  
"You got any fives?" asked Coolguy.  
"Go fish" replied Snickers.  
  
Taking a short break from guarding the doc and the wounded, Snickers and Coolguy were playing cards.   
  
The wind blew open the flap of the Mess-Tent/Medical Tent.  
  
"You got any jacks? Hey! Mon! What's wrong with you?"  
Coolguy stole a glance at the Medic.  
"Indigestion." Coolguy laughed, "Bet someone's gonna have to go to the crapper soon."  
  
Mon turned around with a panicked look on his face. Something was odd about the bloodstain on his apron. It was getting bigger. He started choking and blood began to seep in through his fingers.  
  
Coolguy turned around then got up and ran to see what happened. Snickers did the same. Mon was bleeding in his belly.

Snickers looked at Mon and then turned around and tried to spot the sniper. Chael had left his sniper rifle. To Snickers' dismay he found the scope shot through with a single bullet.  
Mon struggled to a stretcher and laid down. He ripped his apron and shirt off and beckoned Coolguy and Snickers to come.

"Guys listen to everything I say and do exactly that alright?"  
  
Sarge suddenly came to, sucking in oxygen. He had several bandages around his chest and shoulder. He turned and saw Mon bleeding on the stretcher.  
"SNIPER!!!" yelled Snickers.  
"Shit!" Sarge limped over to the radio. As he reached for the "on" switch a bullet shattered the machine. "SHIT!"  
He ran outside as Mon began whispering instructions to Coolguy.   
  
Sarge ran towards the back of the Mess-Tent. He limped to the only beacon light. He grabbed it in his hand and rushed outside, finding a place where he could hide from the sniper and flash the beacon.  
  
*FLASH**FLASH**FLASH* *FLAAASH**FLAAASH**FLAAASH* *FLASH**FLASH**FLASH*  
  
The soldiers that were still on the field were celebrating Ricy's lifesaving assault when they see a bright red light flashing across the battlefield. WWW had rejoined the group, as did RedStorm, Pyst, Stealth, ILZ and Chael.  
"Hey! That's old Morse code!" yelled WWW.  
"Well, what does it mean?" asked Flatfeet  
"Ummm hang on:   
S-O-S M-E-D-I-C D-O-W-N W-E D-I-D-N-T W-I-N S-N-I-P-E-R P-I-C-K-I-N-G U-S O-F-F L-I-K-E F-L-I-E-S A-L-L S-O-L-D-I-E-R-S O-F-F O-F T-H-E F-I-E-L-D A-N-D B-A-C-K T-O B-A-S-E N-O-W. T-H-I-S I-S N-O-T A D-R-I-L-L. C-O-D-E R-E-D, I R-E-P-E-A-T C-O-D-E R-E-D"  
  
Ricy screamed. A bullet had just combed his feathers. The remaining soldiers on the field ran for their lives as the red signal beacon continued to flash it's message. Sniper bullets lifted up the sand behind their feet as they hauled royal ass back to base. As they reached the medic tent they slammed into each other and rolled to a stop. Sarge stood over them clutching his chest, panting quickly.  
  
"About-blo-bloody-time! Okay look- we gotta black out this installation. Thi-This guy is damn good. No lights! Close all flaps and put anything against any open holes. I repeat do not use any light! Oka-Okay! Lets go go go go go go go!"


	7. Daybreak

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Have you guys heard "The March of the Valkyries"? You probably have and you just don't know it. It's the song that plays in the Beach scene in "Apocalypse Now" You know, when the helicopters are napalming the beach. This is the only time you'll ever see a scene that looks like it came out of a script. Meaning with directions e.g. Cue slow motion Anyway. Moving right along.)  
  
Chapter 7: Daybreak  
  
Lights were turned off, flaps were zipped shut and tissue paper was stuffed in little holes. The already dark night had just got darker. There was not one molecule of light hovering in the air. The Platoon, all gathered in the same tent, were packed so close together they could feel each others hot, moist breathing.  
  
"Clever," mumbled The Master. He began rummaging through his equipment. "But not clever enough."  
The thermal sight would soon replace the night vision one.  
  
"Right. This sniper is good so he probably has some sort of x-ray or heat source scope, so we aren't safe in here. We've bough some time by blacking out but not nearly enough. Listen here, I got a plan." Chael said.  
  
"If we head to the rock outcroppings about 10 meters that way," he pointed to the back of the base, "we should have enough cover to prevent him from getting us. So someone start making a back door." Ricy ran to the back of the tent and used his claw to trace a doorway into the fragile tent material. Sarge approved Chael's plan.  
Chael went over to ILZ.  
  
"You have to try to hit him as fast as you can. When everyone runs out have someone guide you so you can fire towards the sniper and still make your way to the outcropping. You'll probably only get one shot, so make it count." He turned and addressed everyone again.  
"Everybody ready?" Mixed grumbles and "yeahs" came from them. All but Chael went to the "back door". Sarge went to the front were Chael was.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
"I have to get to my workbench to get my rail-gun."  
"Why?"  
"If ILZ misses when you guys are running, the two of us will have just as hard a time hitting him as he will hitting us. So if I have the rail-gun I can shoot through the rocks and get him."  
"But doesn't your rifle have a rail-gun effect?"  
"Ever since I started using that rail-gun I've stopped putting the rail device onto the rifle. But that isn't going to happen any more. I just hope you guys distract him enough so that I can get to my bench."  
"Well then, good luck soldier." He shook Chael's hand. Sarge moved towards the back door.  
"We all need it," muttered Chael as he set down his rifle.  
  
"Everyone in camo?" asked Sarge. The Platoon had dressed in black; they had to be near inconspicuous. They nodded.

"Okay........................go." As he opened the flap a large amount of smoke poured in. The Master Sniper finally finished changing scopes. Instantly everything became red. White figures stood out in the smoke.  
  
"CHAEL!!!" ILZ coughed, "I CAN'T SEE!!"  
"I CAN'T BREATHE!!!AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!"  
"EVERYONE!! BACK IN THE TENT!!!"  
"WHERE IS THE TENT?!?! AAAWW FUCK!!! MY ARM!!"  
"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!"  
  
Sounds of pain were heard. Everyone scattered. With some difficulty they made it back inside the tent.  
ILZ was yelling into his radio, "Chael! There will be no cover fire! I repeat! No cover fire!"  
  
Chael had a bead of sweat on his forehead.   
"It's too late to turn around now. I've got to get to my area and take out the sniper," he thought. He ran.  
  
The Master noticed Chael heading in a different direction from the others, and set his sites on him. Chael began running in an erratic zigzag pattern. As Chael neared his workbench, the Master Sniper prepared to fire. A few feet from the table, Chael leapt into the air and over it. First grabbing the rail-gun, Chael flipped the table to its side while still in the air. At the same moment the Tediz sniper took his shot.  
  
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" yelled Chael in pain. He landed hard behind the barrier he made, clutching his leg just under the knee. The sniper may have been good, but Chael predicted him well enough to get by with just the wound.  
  
"Shit that hurt. I better lay low for a bit so he thinks I'm out. I hope they made it to the outcropping. I better do something with this shot or it'll get infected," he thought to himself.  
Chael saw his soldering gun and a pair of forceps looking things next to him. He sterilized the forceps with his lighter and removed the bullet. Then he grabbed a rock and bit down on it as he cauterised the wound with the soldering gun. Lastly, he tore off one of his sleeves and wrapped the area.   
"Alright, that should be good. I don't hear any more shots so he's either on the move or waiting. But that's ok cause I can wait just as long. One of us will make a mistake. The other one will be the one that lives."  
  
ILZ suddenly started firing at the sniper tower. That was the signal.  
  
Sarge could be seen coming out of the grey curtain like cloud that had enveloped the land. He crawled on his belly commando style, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder. His face was painted black, to match the rest of his now-darkened body. As he continued to crawl more Squirrels followed him, camouflaged in the same style. He could see the rock out cropping that was safety. The platoon (minus the two snipers) crawled along the earth, like one long black river, towards safety, hoping ILZ was keeping the sniper distracted. They blended into the night.  
  
ILZ was firing at the sniper. None of the bullets hit home. The Master sneered at this amateur technique. He was done playing. With that he loaded an explosive bullet into the chamber.  
"Take tha yo yella bellied mother f-"  
  
*BAM*  
  
ILZ's sniper rifle exploded in his hands. He ran while yelling to Sarge what had happened over the radio.  
  
"Chael, we are relying on you boy. Don't fail me now."  
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye Sarge saw a line of brilliant gold. The sun was rising.  
"SHIT! RUUUUUUUUUN!!!" he yelled, picking himself out of the mud.  
"Why?" asked Pyst.  
"The sun's coming up, in the day light we don't stand a chance!!!"  
  
Cue "March of the Valkyries"  
  
Chael could see the sun rising.  
"Run guys," he whispered.   
  
Cue slow motion   
  
The platoon dragged their selves back out of the dirt. Mud flew into their eyes and a bead of sweat had broken out on all their foreheads.  
  
The sliver had become a good slice of sunrise. The sunlight stretched over the sea.  
  
"Run," whispered Chael.  
  
The rock outcropping was only a few metres away. They all had their focus set on the rocks.  
  
The approaching sunlight signalled The Master to arm his sniper rifle.  
  
At the peak of the song   
The sun exploded in all its brilliance. Sunlight flooded the land.  
  
(OOC: The scenes are changing at a fast rate to stress the intensity)  
  
The Master aimed.   
  
Chael jumped out from behind the table.  
  
The rock outcropping was only a few metres away. Sarge made a running leap towards it…  
  
The Master squeezed the trigger.  
  
Chael pressured the trigger.  
  
Some of the Platoon leapt, some slid, some continued to run before leaping for safety.  
  
The Master's gun flashed.  
  
The bullet flew towards Pyst.  
  
Chael fired.  
  
(OOC: Super fast scene changing rate)  
  
The Master's bullet flew.  
  
Chael's bullet sped onwards.  
  
The Master's bullet seemed to pick up speed.  
  
Chael's bullet appeared to have a mind of its own.  
  
The Master's bullet roared with rage.  
  
Chael's bullet screeched in triumph.  
  
***KABLAM*  
  
**The two bullets slammed into each other and exploded.  
  
The Platoon all landed in the mud, squelching and sliding as they rolled behind the rock out cropping.  
  
"Yes!!" yelled Chael as he did a little victory dance. A bullet hit the table. "Woah!" He yelled as he ducked.  
  
The Master's face contorted into a snarl.  
"Till next time," he spat.


	8. Seemingly flawless

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N The date- 03/09/02 The time- 12:32 AM The promise- two completed FanFics, two completed miscellaneous topics and one recreational. I hate it when I can't keep my promises. But I will try my best to have a least one done. This one. Platoon: WWW's Dream. Time to really get this party started. Having drunk some wake up juice it's back to the computer I go.)  
  
Chapter 8: Seemingly flawless.  
  
The Master rummaged around in his bag until he found a certain case containing a certain bullet. The games were over.  
"They already know where I am. Kill him and move," he muttered.  
  
Chael looked up in time to dodge a bullet. He crouched against the table and loaded his sniper rifle  
  
No silent gunshot this time. There was a loud bang followed by an even louder explosion. Chael was launched forward, while the explosion singed his fur and hundreds of splinters lodged deep into his back.  
Chael used the last of his strength to aim and fire at the Master Sniper. But the Master had moved. Chael blacked out.  
  
"Sniper? Have you killed them?" asked the C.O.  
  
"Only one managed to die. They are very persistent. I cannot fight anymore or my gun will break down." The Commanding Officer sighed a sigh of disappointment.  
"Sniper, I want you back out there as soon as possible. You're the best in this camp. Now listen, did you manage to see the lone Tediz out there?"  
"Yes."  
"I want him to be the next one you kill. I'm confident you'll manage." The C.O. smirked and left the room.  
  
The Master walked to his own chamber.  
"No army, species or enemy is impossible for me," he muttered. The door was slammed shut.  
  
"CHAEL!!!!" yelled Sarge as he ran over to the blasted workspace. Chael was lying in the mud, splinters wedged all over his body.  
"Shit. This is not good!" ILZ ran to the downed soldier.  
  
"Wot happen' Serge?" Sarge ignored ILZ and yelled out to the others.  
  
"Chael is down! Pyst! Come over here and give us a hand!"  
Pyst ran over. He grabbed Chael's feet while ILZ grabbed his head. Sarge grabbed what he could salvage from Chael's equipment.  
"Ready?" he asked. They nodded.  
"Two...three...and lift!"  
  
They hauled Chael up and took him to the outcropping. Mon lay still, unconscious.  
"Crap. Can anybody in here work a medpack?" questioned Sarge. Flatfeet was the only one to answer.  
  
"That'd be me"  
  
"Fix him up soldier! That's an order not a request!"  
  
"Sir...I only know some basic stuff"  
  
"That's more than I know. Now move."  
  
"Sir, yes, sir."  
  
Sarge approached Oreos.   
"Listen, that Tediz sniper is having a field day! Do something about that." Oreos loaded a fresh sniper clip.  
"Consider it done," he smirked.  
  
Oreos crawled, commando style, towards one of the old makeshift trenches.  
"Is there anyone still alive out here?" he wondered. A bullet whizzed past his temple.  
  
"Not you! You damn Tediz!"  
Deja was lying in the trench. Oreos hopped down.  
"Hey Deja, you know where the sniper is? I can't see him...."  
  
"2nd floor, 3rd opening to the left."  
  
"Thanks. Alright you bastard, this one's for Chael." He narrowed his eyes and dashed to the left side of the beach.  
  
The Platoon members sat at the outcropping trying to figure out their next move. Off to the side, Mon and Chael lay, bandaged up in a shoddy manner. From where the two lay, the Platoon heard a moaning. Chael was coming too.  
  
"Owwwww fuck, what happened?"  
  
"The sniper used an explosive bullet. After he left, we carried you here," explained Sarge.  
  
"Is that why my whole body hurts? Any attacks since then?"  
  
"Nothing yet," said Pyst, "But for all we know he could be out there now."  
  
"I doubt it. He's pro material. We wouldn't all be talking right now if he was. Either he's waiting till nightfall or he's preparing his next attack as we speak. What we need are defences. An early warning system."  
  
"How we gonna do dat?" asked ILZ.  
  
"WWW, FF and I can handle that." The Albino tried in vain to get up.  
"I guess I'll have to just do ideas and instructions. Does Mon have any painkillers?"  
  
"He's still out," informed Sarge.  
  
"Damn. Then I'll help you two out until I pass out again."  
  
Chael quickly got Flatfeet and WWW working. He told them to enlarge certain capsules. All the equipment they could ever want was in front of them.  
"First, we need motion detection. Look for antennas. I think they're up at the top."  
  
It was two hours later when WWW addressed Sarge.  
"Flatfeet and I finished the defences. Chael passed out halfway through the job, but we managed to complete it. Now listen up"  
"This first thing is a motion detection barrier. The two antennas we placed provide almost island wide detection. This monitor will warn us of movement. Unfortunately, it can't penetrate the base walls, but we do know about motion in the wooded areas and clearings."  
  
"Next, there's a disruption field surrounding us. Its range is very limited, but anything outside of the effect area will have trouble focusing. It scrambles everything inside it," continued WWW  
  
"Like when you try to watch porn but you don't have the channel?" asked Pyst.  
  
"Yes, that's what it looks like. Finally, all the posts that got set up, they're magnetic field generators. If we get shot at they'll redirect bullets that head our way. Chael said that by the time he figures out how to shoot to hit his target, we'll have figured out where he is and can get him."  
  
"And Chael said it's preferable if it's with something explosive," finished Flatfeet. It all seemed like it was a flawless plan.  
  
Seemed.


	9. Paying it forward

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Sleeeeeeeep…must have sleeeeeeeeep. You don't know what you're missing till it's gone…gone…gone… -_-*zzzzzz Must stay awake! Must finish! Must- *thump* please…read…review…)  
  
Chapter 9: Paying it forward  
  
"You got that Oreos?"  
"Loud and clear. Where do I get one of my own monitor thingies?"  
"When you grow up. Get over here first."  
"But, that sniper's still watching over us. Let me take care of that "first"."  
  
"Whatever. Over and out."  
Oreos pocketed his radio.  
"Just you and me now, sweet buns," he murmured as he placed his eye to the scope.  
"Alright...nothing yet..."  
He slowly set up the sniper rifle on a rock. He saw a sniper shooting explosives at base. He grinned.  
"I'm over here you dumb fuck" His finger gripped the trigger.  
"Checkmate." He pulled the trigger. The sniper turned his attention to the noise. Bullet pierced glass, then eye, and then brain. Green blood smeared the Crow's Nest.  
"Yes!" he took out his radio.  
"Hey guys, I got the Sniper, you can come out now."  
  
"All 6 of em' the Master included? Wow, I'm impressed."  
  
"Si-?" Oreos started to ask. The radio was shot out of his paw.  
"Why me..."  
The bullet got him in the chest. He was blasted backwards into the tree line.  
  
"Oreos! Oreos respond, over!" CoolGuy yelled into his radio. "Sarge! I think Oreos is down!"  
  
"Dammit! You know, all we really need are some rocket weapons. Then all I gotta do is point in the general direction of the sniper and blow him and his hiding place to hell!" yelled Pyst.  
  
"Great idea. Except we don't have any rockets for you to play with," Sarge replied.  
  
"Well, we could try this the 'Full Metal Jacket' way."  
  
"The what?" asked Twisted.  
  
"We slap together a couple smoke grenades, toss 'em in the area between us and the snipers, use the smoke as cover so the snipers can't see us, then circle behind 'em and shoot them all in the back!"  
  
"Not a bad idea, good thinkin' boy," Sarge snarled sarcastically.  
  
"Actually I got that from a movie. Ok, does anyone know how to make some smoke bombs?" asked Pyst. The rest stared at him.  
  
"No Pyst you arse, bad idea, he has heat and night vision. Lets not forget the tower that we can't climb, the beach we can't cross and the base we can't reach." Snickers voiced the general opinion.  
Suddenly something started beeping on Chael's radar. More of it started happening. No one reacted at first. Not until the high-pitched whistling started.  
  
"GET YER HEADS DOWN!!!" ordered Sarge. The first mortar took out the radar. The second and third blew the pylons to hell. The tracking system was down.  
In short the base was getting the shizzat blown out of it.  
  
Deja quickly crawled out of the trench as pieces of shrapnel and rock flew through the air. She dashed to where Sarge had taken cover.  
  
"Glad you made it," smirked Sarge. Deja pecked him on the cheek in a friendly manner.  
"Same to you. I thought that bullet had killed you," she said nodding towards his shoulder.  
"Killed me? Please, I am invincible!" he crowed. A flat piece of metal whizzed past their heads, narrowly missing Sarge by millimetres.  
"Bonehead...."  
  
They both lay on the ground, occasionally checking for hidden Tediz. A noisy whistling sound was getting louder and louder by the second.  
  
"What the-" yelled Deja.  
  
"Duuuuck!!!!!"  
Sarge put his arm over Dana's head to protect her from any more flying shrapnel.  
"We're gonna have to move...Everybody! Head for the trees!"  
  
Squeaky and Pyst ran away from the exploding base. They both stood there looking at the approaching troops. Squeaky and Pyst could practically hear the music flowing from CuMiT's Metal Slug. Squeaky's familiar fiery eyes blazed while Pyst calmly loaded his machine gun.  
"CuMiT's missing out on some good shit here," stated Squeaky. Pyst shook his head as they ran towards the Tediz troops.  
  
"All right, I'll draw out the snipers! Catch ya later Squeaky. You can handle a Tediz patrol right?"  
The smell of burning Tediz filled the air.  
  
Pyst ran for the trench and dived in. He poked his head up and instantly bullets tore up the dirt around him.   
"Yeah! That's right! Come and get me!!!"  
Pyst raised his machine gun and fired blindly in the general direction of the snipers.  
"COM' ON!!! WHAT YOU GOT!!!" he screamed. The Master growled.  
  
A bullet ripped through Pyst's shoulder. He fell back in the trench. Sarge yelled at him from the cover of the trees.  
  
"Get your ass out of there!"  
  
"It's just a scratch Sarge!" Another bullet hit Pyst in the chest.  
"YOW! DAMMIT! THAT STUNG!!!" Pyst jumped up again and kept firing with his machine gun.  
"CHAEL! ILZ! OREOS! RICY! WHERE YOU GUYS AT!?!! SHOOT THEM!!!" Another bullet hit Pyst in the forearm.  
"NOW GUYS!!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS FOREVER!!!"  
  
***WHAM*  
  
**"Sorry it had to come to that. But you weren't listening." The Sergeant lifted the bleeding soldier onto his shoulder. Pyst had slumped into unconsciousness. Sarge lifted the limp squirrel over his shoulder and ran back towards the woods where Deja was taking cover. He dumped Pyst on the soil next to her.  
  
"Take care of him!!" He dashed back to base and slid, raising a dust cloud in his trail, next to the two limp squirrels. He placed Mon on his shoulder.  
  
-WWwWWWWWwwwwwWWWwww....-  
  
"BOMB!" he yelled. He threw himself to the ground as the mortar shell soared over his head and into a computer monitor. The monitor sparked and exploded. Sarge shielded his eyes as the flaming debris landed next to him. He ran back to the woods and placed Mon next to Pyst.  
  
"I'm running out of ammo!" Deja warned.  
  
"Just a bit longer, there's only one lef-"  
  
*KKKKSssss*  
  
"S*KKKKKSssss*elp*KKKKKSssss*nybod*KKKKKsss*?" Oreos voice tried to make contact over the static.  
  
*KKKKssss*  
  
"Ok, two more..." He ran back to where Chael lay unconscious. A bullet scraped the edge of his helmet. He screamed in surprise.   
"Shit! Too close, too close TOO CLOSE!!" He realised he was flirting with Death on the dashing rescues. As he flipped Chael over his shoulder and began to make his way back, a mortar exploded metres away from them and filled his right leg with shrapnel.  
"OWWWW!!!! Fucking bastards!!!" He limped over to Deja and the others. While Deja sat Chael up against the rest Sarge examined the damage done to his leg.  
  
"I'll live," he muttered.  
  
-WWWWwwWwWWWwwwWwWwWw-  
  
The bazooka exploded behind Sarge as he leaped for cover. He was sent soaring by the explosion.  
  
"Work you useless piece of shit work!!" Oreos yelled into his radio. A voice was heard over the wind.  
"YAAAAAAAAAH!"  
"HOLY MACKREL!! FLYING SQUIRREL!"  
  
Sarge landed on top of Oreos and the two slammed into a pine tree. They both blacked out.


	10. The ants go marching 2by2

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Day 5130 Log entry: Project is still incomplete. Large number of Scholastic attacks with Writer's Block phasers have rendered my ship useless and damaged. Furthermore we were infected with a case of Low Morale. The crew and I are in bad shape. Stand by for further news on the front. Captain Jim D. Krek signing out.)  
  
Chapter 10: The ants go marching 2-by-2  
  
It was with a grudge and a throbbing headache that Special Agent Oreos woke up.  
"Oh man...flying squirrels, now I've seen it all." He looked around.  
"Sarge?! When the hell did you learn to fly?!" He crawled over to the fallen Sergeant and tried shaking him awake.  
"Sarge! Get up! Come on Sarge don't leave me! You still owe me $5!" Sarge snorted and turned over.  
  
"Ah, Oreos, you're alright?"  
"Yeah, I was wearing those bullet proof vests Chael made for us. But damn, that one bullet knocked me out, they got some hard stuff going out there." Ceaseless gunfire was heard in the background.   
  
"Sorry about that, explosion went off."  
"It's alright you…" the last bit was mumbled.  
"What was that?"  
"Er, let's get back to base"   
Sarge started getting up, a heavy limp evident.  
"Hey Sarge, you alright there?...holy shit! What happened to your knee?"  
  
"I'll be alright, come on, let's…"  
*CRACK*  
"YEEEEEOOOOWWW!!!" Sarge screamed as he fell back to the ground. Oreos lifted him under his arms.  
"Here, put your arm over me...and don't get any ideas...you can still use your other leg?"  
" Don't get smart-mouthed with me. Yeah, my other leg's fine." With that they started walking back towards the others.  
  
-~-After some walking-~-  
"You still ok, Oreos?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Geez Sarge, you gotta lay off the donuts"  
"Shuddap."  
The sudden sound of footsteps rung through the air.  
"Shh, what's that?"  
"Quick! Let's hide behind the rock!"  
  
They rolled behind a fell tree. Loud voices could be heard and a large number of padded feet slap-slapping in mud. Oreos lifted himself over the log  
"Oh man...We never get a break do we?"  
Hundreds of Tediz lined up, facing their back towards Sarge and Oreos, with a Tediz Captain at the front. The Captain garbled in Tediz. Oreos turned to Sarge for a translation. Sarge shrugged. The Captain unrolled a poster of the Platoon and set it alight with a Zippo lighter. Tediz voices shrieked in anticipating delight. Weapons were fired senselessly into the air.  
"Damn."  
  
"Not good."  
  
RedStorm was the first to hear it. The satanic-like chanting. The sound of hundreds of feet trampling soil. Of weapons being loaded with fresh clips of ammo. He dodged another explosive shell and ran to those left in the bombarded base.  
**"WE'VE GOT COMPANY!!!"** he cried. He snatched up his double bladed staff. Ricy rustled his wings and let loose a warning to any others near. The first line of hostiles marched into view. It was in that second where hope for the two soldiers withered up like a burning leaf, and died.  
  
-~-Meanwhile-~-  
Pyst came round. He shook his head.  
"What the hell happened?"  
"Sarge brought you over."  
" He conked me out, didn't he? I'd beat the crap out of him if he wasn't my C.O.!" He looked around him frantically.  
  
"Where's my gun?"  
"I dunno, back at the trench I guess. Hey! Hey! Where the hell do you think your going?!"   
"Gonna get my gun back..." And he was off.  
  
Pyst ran in a zigzag pattern, just barely evading sniper fire. He dived in the trench, grabbed his gun, and booked it out of there. He dived back into the woods as a shell disintegrated the dirt behind him.  
  
"Just had to get your gun back, eh?"  
"I like this gun."  
  
Seemingly forgotten by everyone else a lone figure lay crouched on a hill. He had taken care to lie in a dark patch of woods, his brown coloured fur providing suitable camouflage. Nestled in the crook of his arm was his trusted friend – his sniper rifle. Whistling to himself Bob Marley's timeless words of "No woman no cry" he couldn't help but think of his fiancée Tamika waiting back home.   
The warm fuzzy feeling he felt was eliminated when he heard the arming a weapon. A muzzle was pushed into the back of his head. He slowly turned to see…Snicker's snorting face. ILZ stared directly into Snicker's laughing eyes. He snarled and looked to see who was left at camp. He was doing all he could to provide cover for the last two, RedStorm and Ricy. But it was merely a finger in the leaking floodwall.  
  
**_"TSIIIIIIR!!!"   
_**The shrill cry raised the hair on Stealth's neck. He, Squeaky, Flatfeet and Twisted had found a bombed out shack which they retreated to. Actually Flatfeet had found it. He was staring at the house and its walls with a lost look - his mind was elsewhere.  
**_"TSIIIIIR!!!"  
_**The screams of the Hawk echoed over the battlefield. But all they could do was listen. Every time they tried to leave the house they were nearly shot by a sniper. They were trapped. Twisted had punched a hole in the wall.  
  
"We can't just sit here! They're dying out there!" He made a move for the door. As he laid his paw on the door handle a brilliant red line appeared across the back of his hand. Twisted leapt back in fright.  
The Hawk continued to cry for help.  
  
Dana and Pyst lay belly-down on the grass just behind a rock. Dana ran out of ammo yet again and asked Pyst for more.  
"Say please!" he demanded.  
"What the – Just fork it over!"  
"Say! Please!"  
"Dammit! Please hand it over..." Pyst grinned widely as he made the ammo freely available.  
"There you go. You have to more nice when you ask for things. Now say thank you."  
"Ok buddy! Your goin' down!!"  
Dana threw herself on top of Pyst and pinned his arm behind his back. Pyst flipped her over and restrained Dana from giving him a bloody mess for a nose. They both struggled to get free from one another's grip.  
"Settle down!!...I was just kidding!" Dana pulled her arm out of his grasp and settled herself on her stomach.  
"I'm not in a good mood..."  
"I noticed that..." mumbled Pyst.  
  
*SSShhhShhhhssshhhHhsSsHHS*   
  
Dana's walky-talky was receiving a message from Sarge.  
"Are you two done yet or what?"  
"How could you see?!!"  
"Oreos has a sniper remember!"  
"Don't mention this to a living soul," she said pointing at Pyst.  
  
_"It's all over…"_ Mon zoned back into consciousness. Slowly he crept over to Ricy and RedStorm, without Deja or Pyst realising he was gone.   
_"NO! Stay awake dammit! There! Brown! Focus prick, focus! Pull the trigger, now! Do it now! Brown! Brown everywhere! DIE! DIE SONS OF A BITCH!!! Black…tired…I think I'll go to sleep now…Renato! Keep it together man! White! White and Red! Red! R…"  
_He was hit hard across the face. Next thing he knew the three of them were locked up in prison.


	11. True lies

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**(A/N Is it really necessary to write something here? Maybe it's one of those weird humba-jumba superstitions. Maybe it's just me. I dunno. Anyway, lets get on with the story. Now that I'm looking at it…I think it's going to take more than the first's 14 chapters. By the way, chapter title has nothing to do with the Arnie Swatz film of the same name. So don't sue my ass. Also upon calculation I've only got 21 pages of GameFAQS text to re-write as a book. That's a good thing peeps. Aaaaaanyway.)  
  
Chapter 11: True Lies  
  
As Oreos chortled at the Deja-Pyst run in Sarge noticed a small patrol of Tediz taking away three bounded figures.  
"Oreos! Who's tha-"   
  
*Trrrrrr-ATATATATATATAT*  
  
The turret on top of the newly arrived tank fired a stream of bullets, effectively shredding tree bark, rocks and sand bags.  
"Uh oh..." sighed Oreos.  
"What?" asked Sarge.  
"Our cover was just mowed down."  
"Not good eh?"  
"Nope."  
"Run?"  
"Yep"  
  
*Trrrrr-*  
  
The hideout the two squirrels had been sheltering in was no more. They might as well have been running through the Little House on the Prairie set. The Tediz behind the turret placed his sight ahead of the two running squirrels, so that the bullets would hit where they would be.  
  
*TATATATATATATATA*  
  
"Stop moving!" warned Sarge as he grabbed Oreos roughly by his collar. Bullets nipped the air millimetres in front of the sweating Squirrel.  
"Okay Oreos, I go this-a way you go that-a way."  
"Okay…"  
  
*Trrrrrrr-*  
  
The two squirrels dashed in opposite directions as a stream of fire passed between them.  
  
The Tediz manning the tank flipped the switch from "Big Bang Bang" to "Squigee Guided"   
  
As Sarge limped along he heard a noise behind him…  
_*beep*  
*beep*  
*beep*  
_***BEEP*  
  
**As Oreos ran panting hard a sound buzzed near him...  
_*beep*  
*beep*  
*beep*  
_***BEEP*  
  
**He looked behind him and his eyes grew wide.  
"Sarge!!! FUR GUIDED!!!" he screamed.  
"Make for the trench!!!" was the reply.  
  
The two fur guided missiles followed the two squirrels. They ran to the best of their ability with the homing missile gaining behind them. Gaining...gaining...gaining...  
"Leap into my arms!" ordered Sarge.  
"Wha-?"  
"Just do it!"  
  
*YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!*  
  
They leapt into each other and fell in the trench as the two fur guided missiles collided over their heads, showering them with flame and debris. They quickly pulled away from each other.  
"Tell anybody about that and I swear I'll kill you," threaten Sarge.  
"The feeling's mutual..."  
  
As Sarge lifted his head over the trench he saw a Tediz with a green band wrapped around its arm leading a band of Tediz to the house the rest had retreated to. He shrugged and slunk back into the mud.  
"WWW wears a green arm band right?"  
"Uh...yeah," Oreos replied distracted.  
Pause.  
"**OH SHIT!!!**"  
  
*sh-CLICK sh-CLICK sh-CLICK*  
  
Oreos was looking straight into the barrel of a 9mm pistol.  
"Paws up, you squirrel scum," barked the Tediz C.O. in his own language. Sarge and Oreos took the hint.  
A Tediz knocked Oreos unconscious. Sarge looked at the C.O.  
"What are you gonna do to us?" asked Sarge as he was bound in cuffs.  
"Don't worry, we'll keep you two love birds in the same cell."  
"Wha--Oh no! We were just catching each other! We're not--" The Tediz knocked Sarge out.  
"These squirrels get weirder every time."  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
Sarge and Oreos woke up. Around them hung drab, lightless grey. The grey of a prison cell.  
"Ah...my head..."  
"You guys alright?" asked Mon.  
"MON! Glad to see you're still alive. Where is this? Is it the main base, or just storage for prisoners? Hey where's Ricy and RedStorm?"  
"I'm guessing this is the main base. Ricy and Red were taken somewhere else.... I dunno where..."  
"Shit...Execution...?" whispered Oreos.  
"We can only hope not," said Sarge. Mon pointed through the bars.  
"Some Tediz keep reporting to that guard over there. They keep talking in Tediz language, so I can't tell what's going on...Sounds like something big..."  
"Triple W could translate it for us..." mumbled Oreos. As if on cue WWW walked in through the door. The guard on patrol snapped a quick salute.  
  
"Well what do we have here? 3 pathetic squirrels sittin' in a cell...." he pointed a stitched paw at the guard. "You! Out now!" The guard obeyed.  
"WWW! What in the blue moon are you doing?"  
_"He's not WWW anymore,_" hissed a robotic voice. Suddenly WWW let forth speech in his real voice.  
"I'm nobody's bitch, now you're mine!"  
"Get us out!" pleaded Mon. The robotic swirl returned.  
_"You squirrels still don't get it...You wanna know?"  
_"What are you talking about?" questioned Sarge. WWW snarled evilly.  
  
_"WWW is still one of us. We've merely been using him to get information out of the "99th buffoons". Well actually, the only reason we planted a chip inside his head is because this Tediz was a little soft for us when he was created. Rather than executing him, we thought of a way to make him useful. Not only is he a true Tediz now, we now also know all about you, and the next mission you plan on going. But you're not going to live even to get to our international bases."_

  
"Then it was all a hoax? There was never a triple W, just a rotten Tediz?" moaned a defeated Oreos.

  
"There was a WWW, but we'd occasionally take control of him. Such as earlier, you thought it was a sniper who shot you in the back?"  
 WWW grinned as he saw realisation dawn on Oreos' face.  
"It was triple W?"  
"In a sense...but with our mind, and his paws. You want to talk to him again? Here you go..."  
  
"GUYS! I'm sorry...I never knew...I didn't want to, but I can't control it. These bastards can control my every movement. Listen, to destroy this base, you have to go to the main power room and…"  
  
"Ah, ah, ah.... too much information there. Anyways, WWW got us the location of your base, and our troops should be rounding up the rest of your buffoons right about now...Game over Rico. You lose."

  
*At the 99th stand-down*  
"How's Chael coming along?" asked Flatfeet. He parted a torn curtain and looked out across the island. They managed to get every one to this stand-down point. Save for the other five captured. Deja looked at Chael's wound. She sighed. This had to be the worst mission ever.  
"He's resting now. I don't know if he'll be all right...I'm worried about Sarge."  
"If I know Sarge, and I do, he's probably decking some Tediz right about now," said Snickers as he placed a comforting hand on Deja's shoulder.  
"Thanks Snickers."  
***BAM***

  
The door was kicked over, as Tediz poured into the room.  
"What the? Where'd they come from?" stuttered a surprised Flatfeet.  
"Get your paws where I can see 'em!" barked the Tediz Sergeant.  
"What the hell is this?!" yelled Pyst in protest lifting his arms skywards. A Tediz grabbed Deja's arms and forced her against a wall. "Hey punk, leave her alone!"  
"Thanks for the chivalry..." began Deja. She lifted her leg right up to the Tediz chin with a mean scissor kick. The Tediz fell to the ground – its neck broken.  
"But no thanks"  
  
All hell broke loose.  
FlatFeet and Snickers fought off Tediz from Chael, stealing guns and using them on the original carriers. Deja round-housed the next Tediz, nabbing the fallen bayonet and shooting the next one in the chest. Pyst huddled in the corner.  
"You ok Pyst?" asked Deja, ending the life of yet another lifeless machine.  
"Yeah, watch out!!!!"  
  
*WHAM*  
  
Deja groin punched a Tediz sneaking up behind her.  
"Thanks."  
  
"We gotta get outta here!" warned Flatfeet, "I'll carry Chael! Deja! Make an exit!"  
  
Deja turned to face the back wall. She armed her grenade launcher. Pyst looked on…and time slowed…slowed…he swore he could hear hearts beating in their chests. He saw as if in slow motion a Tediz general whip out a pistol behind Deja, and aim.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! DEEEEJJJJAAAAAA!!!!!" Pyst started getting up and running towards Deja.  
  
*BANG*  
  
Pyst tripped on a loose floorboard and bowled right into Deja. The bullet slammed into the wall. Everything returned to normal speed as Deja went crashing through the rotted wood.  
"Oww.... thanks Pyst...." she uttered seconds before everything went black. The Tediz had overpowered them. A Tediz pistol-whipped Pyst. He saw the others being given the same treatment. Then his vision went blurry.  
"You're welcome..."  
  
*THUMP*


	12. Jail birds

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N I can see these chapters lengthening. See, here in Word the documents look well trimmed when paragraphs are shown by indents – but I know from experience that indent on FanFiction looks crowded. So I have to space it. It looks icky. Does anyone know a way for me to get my texts looking "Word" like if you know what I mean? Bold, Italics? I'd be indebted. Ta.)  
  
Chapter 12: Jail Birds  
  
The door to the cell slid open and Pyst was thrown in, on the floor, unconscious. Sarge kicked him awake. Pyst woke up, gasping one word.  
"Deja!!"  
"!!!"  
Sarge kicked Pyst hard in the ribs. He then  stomped on his kneecaps.  
"He-OW! Stop Sa-OW!! I'm awake! Sarg-OWW!!!"  
"No good piece-a-shit!" cussed Sarge. Oreos fought to restrain him.  
"Sarge! Relax!"   
Sarge walked off to the corner muttering silently. Oreos informed Pyst of the situation.  
"I don't believe it," he finally managed to stammer.  
"WWW was the master mind all along," Mon added helpfully.  
"And now what's gonna happen?"   
Sarge stirred in his vengeful silence.  
  
"We'll be experimented on till we are of no more use. Then they're gonna chop us into little pieces and throw us in the filtration system."  
"You're a ray of sunshine Sarge, have I ever told you that," spat Pyst bitterly.  
"You! You were not given the right to speak soldier!"  
"Shutting up..."  
"So. What are we gonna do?" asked Coolguy. RedStorm laughed.  
"We gotta think and we gotta think fast!"  
  
"Problem?"  
"Yah mon…"  
"What the heck are we supposed to do?"  
"Well we cou'd sit here oonder this here tree forever or we coul'd risk ar necks mon for the captured blightas. Whatcha make of it Snickers?"  
"Was that English?" The rumble of thunder echoed over the island. Menacing clouds loomed overhead. A flash of lightening painted the sky a brilliant silver.  
"Oh crap."  
"What?"  
"We is under a tree in a thunder storm."  
"And?"  
"I t'ink I'll leave you here to find out fer yerself." ILZ made a mad dash away from the tree. Snickers was two seconds behind when the lightening fork tore the tree in two.   
Over-heated sap exploded igniting the air around it. Wooden shrapnel shards tore through the air itself, lacerated the surrounding shrubbery – a wooden mace. The two squirrels were flung through the air, dirt trails marked their harsh re-entry. ILZ shook his shaggy head and looked up at the billowing black trench coat in front of them.  
"And where the fook have you been?"  
  
Dana "Deja" Rodriguez lay down on the wooden slab meant to be a bed. She was thrown in isolation for being "exceedingly violent" She was reclining against the wall, feet on the bench. Her bright eyes appeared to float in the infinite darkness. The door to the cell slid open. A Tediz. Its stitched mouth was twisted in a cocky, sly smile. He almost swayed up to the Squirrel. Deja eyed him cautiously. In a swift movement he had her arms pinned behind her back. Deja's heart raced but then froze. She heard the sound of unzipping.  
"HELL NO!"  
She struggled against her captor's grip. The Tediz was sniggering. With a mighty heave she got one arm free. It was all she needed. She slammed her hand hard where…where no man likes to get hit. The Tediz gasped in pain. Deja's knuckles were clenched white.  
"YOU WANT FUN PREETY BOY?!?! YOU'LL NEED A PAIR OF THESE! SO YOUR GONNA HAFTA TURN AROUND AND GET YOUR BALL-LESS BODY **OUTTA! MY! CELL!!**" she screamed right into the Tediz face. The beast was whimpering. And he whimpered still as he hobbled out of the room.  
_"Pyst…"_ Deja sighed. Suddenly she slapped herself hard. "What the hell did I say? Pyst? Eeeewwww…"  
  
The first Tediz Scientist took three and a half hours to reach the cell. Darkness was everywhere when there should have been some trace of light. There was no more doubt. They were underground.  
"Now, now, now, who shall it be?" the Scientist muttered to himself. "The red-tinted one? The medical officer? Or the dangerous looking one that had the bazooka? The Sergeant! No it will be…"  
A brown paw was pointed.  
Pointed directly at Joshua "FlatFeet" Evans.  
"NO!" shrieked Cherry. Armed Tediz stormed the cell. They tore the couple apart. Cherry stood up, trying to save her husband. But FlatFeet signalled to her to sit down. This was nor the time nor the place. He gave her one last look. He mouthed three words to her.  
I. Love. You.  
  
"Wot we gonna do?" asked ILZ. "Evarybady has been capt'r'd 'cept os." Dark thought for a moment, then noticed a sewer system running into the Tediz base out of the corner of his eye.   
"Over there," he said. "It's our only choice."   
They slid into the murky muck. Snickers turned up his nose.  
"The things I do for my country…" ILZ rolled his eyes. They swam until they came up to an iron barricade. Dark took a deep breath and plunged under. Snickers groaned.  
"You've gotta be shittin' me!"   
"Na choice," said ILZ as he swam under the barricade, trying to ignore the smell of the water. Snickers reluctantly followed. Dark was already gazing down the tunnels ahead. He had left his stench-ridden coat in the water. It was of no use now. ILZ had a green _tHiNg_ hanging off one of his dreadlocks. Snickers recoiled.  
  
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen..." hummed Deja. She rattled a tin cup across the bars.  
*taka-taka-taka-taka-tak*  
"Nobody knows my sorrow..."  
"I do."  
"Who the-"  
"It's me, Flatfeet."  
"Where are you?"  
"In the cell next door."  
"You sound like shit." She slid closer to the wall. FlatFeet sighed long and hard.  
"Yeah. Let's leave it at that. You?"  
"I crushed a perverted Tediz nuts."  
"…"  
"What?"  
"I know they're the enemy and all but: DANG GIRL!"  
  
"Don't worry Cherry. Tediz specialise in cloning."  
"Yeah," snorted Chael, "We would know."  
"The real FlatFeet is probably being held somewhere, alive and in one piece, because they only want the finest samples of Squirrel," he pointed to himself and the other Squirrels, "Hawk," he pointed to Ricy, "or Panther" he made a motion as if to point to someone but stopped in midair. "Where's Dark?"  
"I dunno, he vanished after he backed down from the gate," chirped Mon. Sarge grinned and started laughing uncontrollably.  
"What is it?" demanded Squeaky.  
"Sarge!" yelled Stealth in frustration. Oreos suddenly nodded. He understood.  
"Hold on troops," he said, "the cavalry is coming."  
  
Seconds became minutes. Minutes became long, long hours. Some slept. Others refused to relax. Mon was drifting off into a stupor when he was violently jerked back to reality. Tediz arms grabbed him. He had been dreaming of the home he left in Porto Rico. Son of a brilliant brain surgeon he had everything he wanted. Except freedom and happiness. When the trucks for the volunteers drove past his balcony he wrote a quick note, grabbed a wad of cash and literally leapt into the bandwagon. Who can tell where these little things in life lead up to? All he knew was that he was strapped into a dentist's chair where two Surgeons with drills – power drills – were suiting up.  
  
"I don't get paid enough for this shit," said the first.  
"Shut the fuck up and pass me a cigarette," replied the second.  
  
*grrrrr...*  
  
"Bloody Hell!"  
"It's that sodding Panther!"  
"Quick! Quick, into character!"  
  
*Nycha nycha! Hrrrr!*  
  
*vvv-va vvv-va*  
  
"Sheeti poopoo.."  
"Feke helle..." The two silver tipped stakes entered the fluff like brain and pinned the two "Doctors" to the chair. Snickers admired Dark's handiwork.  
"Touché"   
Dark spat onto the floor. ILZ untied Mon from the chair.  
  
"I will survive..." sung Deja.  
"I will survive..." continued Flatfeet.  
"Oh yeah! I will survi-"  
  
*pift-pift-pift*  
  
The Walter PPK fire left one Tediz guard with two bullet holes in his chest and the other one crippled on the floor, minus a leg.  
"Jail break Deja?" suggested FlatFeet.  
"'bout bloody time."  
FlatFeet and Deja both walked between their cell bars grabbed the keys off of the dead guards, walked back in, unlocked the cell door and walked out. The Cavalry stared dumbstruck.  
"Hello?" asked FlatFeet mockingly.  
"What are we waiting for?" chirped Deja. The two former captives walked in the direction of "Cell block B" the Cavalry chugging behind.  
  
"I'll raise you 30," stated the first Komiz.  
"Call. What ya got?" answered the second.  
"Full House,"  
"You son-of-a!! Cheat!!!" ILZ sneaked toward the key rack. Just as he grabbed the keys...  
"Hey guys look it's ILZ!" yelled Pyst. Cold stares filled the cell.  
"Oh....Too late to take it back now…" The Komiz on duty quickly forgot about their card game.  
ILZ tossed the keys to Ricy. He quickly opened the lock and the captives poured out. In the meantime the two Komiz were suited up and armed. Flamethrower with bulletproof vest. Assault Rifle with targeting visor.  
"One fair fight, one! Is it too much to ask?" moaned Twisted in despair.


	13. It's War

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Having nothing else to write here let me just list some good war films – Full Metal Jacket, All Quiet on the Western Front, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, Behind Enemy Lines, Black Hawk Down, Enemy at the Gates, The Nuremberg Trials, The Deer Hunter, Rules of Engagement, Fifty-Five Days in Beijing  [not war, but lots of fighting], the legendary Apocalypse Now: Redux, The 99th Platoon…Gotcha! I know there are heaps more but those are off the top of my head.)  
  
Chapter 13: It's War  
  
The Guards stood tense, watching to see who will make the first move. Sarge tapped Flamer on the shoulder. The Flamer turned round to smack into Sarge's fist. Hard.  
"Attack!"  
  
The Flamer Komiz got back on his feet and randomly shot flames. Pyst got caught in the tail. It started spreading rapidly.  
"YAAAAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!"  
He ran around and his tail brushed Cherry's tail. She ran around but she was close to ILZ and he caught aflame. Mon ran for the nearest fire extinguisher. In his rush he didn't notice the tiny label in Tediz – Fire Starter. He squeezed hard on the pump.  
  
DISO INFERNOOOOOOOO!!!!  
  
The Flamer's fire burst backwards and into his face, scorching it beyond all recognition. But he still lived. Mon quickly found the real extinguisher and put his friends out. Oreos brushed scorched fur off his arms. He looked down at what was once a white shirt.  
  
"Dammit, and I just got that from the dry cleaners!" The Flamer screamed at Oreos in his own language clutching one side of his face. Oreos shook with fury. Vibrated with it. He leapt onto the assailant.  
"Don't!"  
*WHAM*  
"Ever!"  
*WHAM*  
"Touch!"  
*WHAM*  
"My!"  
*WHAM*  
"SHIRT!"  
  
As the rest of the Platoon jumped The Flamer, Snickers squared off with the Rifle Komiz and pulled out his standard 9mm pistol...slowly loading it with one eye on the Rifle. He armed the weapon. He chewed on what once was a piece of gum. He set his sights on the Rifle.  
  
"Do you feel lucky? Punk," he whispered, "I said, do you feel lucky, punk?" He fired. The bullet tore into the Rifle's arm causing his grip on the weapon to lessen.  
The Komiz lined up the electronic sighs in the visor's LCD screen. Directly between Snicker's eyes.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."   
  
Rifle turned a split second too late. A black-soled combat boot had smashed him backwards into the wall. Dark smirked. The smile faded as the limp Komiz fell to the ground revealing the alarm switch he had landed on.  
  
*bl-EEET bl-EEET*  
  
Tediz. Tediz everywhere. They began to accumulate in the dark passage. It was as if they wouldn't stop coming. Dark pulled out a combat knife and quickly whipped it into Rifle's forehead. The green, blood-like liquid oozed off the blade and the assault rifle dropped with a clang.  
  
The panther snatched up the rifle, ramming it into a nearby Tediz head. The stuffed body went limp and collapsed helplessly. Dark pulled up the assault rifle, pulling the trigger. Bullets sprayed from the steel barrel, embedding themselves in the stuffed bodies of Tediz.   
  
The hard floor began to get slippery from all the blood. Or was it from the blood? The panther quirked his head up to see water leaking. He grinned and brought his gaze back down to the brigade of Tediz. Dark pulled the trigger, missing the Tediz, but the round hit its mark. Water sprayed uncontrollably onto the floor. The hallway split into two others at the end. That's why there was so many Tediz.   
  
As the water flooded onto the floor, it made it hard to stand. Dark threw aside his M16 and picked up two Uzis from the body of a Tediz. He dropped to the ground on his back, everyone looked at him in wonder. Suddenly, he kicked off the wall and slid across the path with ease. As he reached the end, Dark extended both arms to his sides. He was firing madly. Tediz in both hallways dropped like flies, and he just kept on firing.   
"C'mon! Don't just stand there!"  
  
The rest of the Platoon ran south, using Dark's cover fire. Pipes ran all along the ceiling and ended in a tight knot of bronze and copper pipelines. Sarge made a mental note.  
"Sarge!" yelled Twisted, "We can't get through the pipes!"  
"Get ready to hold ground soldiers!"   
Loud Tediz voices could be heard echoing down the corridor. Dark skidded in.  
"Here they come!"  
  
ILZ hung back from the main group, providing long-range assistance for the melee fighters. He saw Squeaky and Twisted kidney punching Tediz, preferring to double team than go alone. He saw Stealth and RedStorm slicing Tediz into little chunks. ILZ pushed his wet dreadlocks out of his eyes. He saw it just in time.  
  
Ricy had taken to the air and was lashing out with his clawed hands, aiming for the Tediz vulnerable black, beady eyes. But he was having trouble flying in such a tight space. A Tediz threw a large spanner directly at the flying Hawk. It struck him hard in the gut. The spanner flew off into the distance. The Tediz came in for the kill. He loomed over the downed bird that flapped pitifully on the wet floor.  
  
*piff piff*  
  
The Tediz was down. ILZ smiled.  
  
"Ha! C'mon get some of this you sons-of-a-bitch!!!" Pyst shrieked over the roar of double machine gun fire. Tediz were falling dead before they even entered the room, seeing a stream of hot lead streaking towards their soft fluff bodies then disintegrating into tiny pieces.  
Sarge was looking desperately for an answer. They were loosing ground – fast. And then things turned to the worse.  
  
The leader of the Tediz assault walked in. All fighting stopped. WWW waltzed in, sliding through the water, stepping over dead bodies. He walked right up to Sarge and stared directly into his face. WWW spat fiercely.  
  
But Sarge wasn't paying attention. He was looking at Dark, who was pointing at the wire that fed electricity to the lights. Then he pointed up to the pipes. Sarge nodded ever so slightly. WWW's eyes wavered.  
"UP!"  
  
The Platoon leapt into the air and caught onto the pipes above. Dark acted quickly. He leapt sideways and jammed his body lengthways between the walls. Then he fired two shots. The first hit the water pipes. The second hit the cables.  
  
Blue-white sparks spat from the edge of the cord that landed straight into the water. WWW clambered up as the blue-white current raced across the water. Tediz screamed and burned, exploding in a violent green mess. The smell of burned flesh stank out the narrow corridor. The electricity short circuited and soon they were in the dark.  
  


_"You…you have only…only a few minutes…I'm sorry…"_ Then gurgling noises replaced WWW's voice. "None of that sentimental crap now. Sorry Buffoons. But we have to leave."  
The lights flickered back on, some secondary generator somewhere kicking back into life. WWW was gone.  
  
Deja was the first to notice the next danger. She quickly armed her last grenade and blew up the entrance to the corridor. Debris blocked the way making the water level rise in the now-smaller container.  
"What is it?" asked Sarge.  
"Him!" Deja yelled outstretching a finger. Pointing directly at FlatFeet. It took Sarge two seconds to put the pieces together.  
"CLONES!"  
  
As they stood knee deep in water the first *BANG* was heard against the rubble. The Platoon stood in three rows. Row one lay flat on their stomachs, row two kneeled and row three stood. Sarge was at the back.  
"Wait for it..." he whispered. The rubble pile began to shift.  
  
"Wait for it...." Boulders fell into the water. A hole appeared. FlatFeet's face was there but terribly twisted and contorted. The Platoon tensed up.  
  
"Ready." All those with weapons armed themselves. The debris began falling apart.  
  
"Aim..." The hole widened. Hands could be seen scrabbling at the bare rock. The clones were nowhere near perfect. They were inhuman. They were demented. They were possessed. They gave out low, savage cries of satisfaction as they saw the blockade falling apart. Some gave out a shrill cry and licked their lips greedily.  
  
"Aaaaannd...." The clones shrieked with barbaric delight as the rocks fell apart completely.   
"FIRE!!!"  
  
Sarge swore he saw time slow down. Individual drops of water could be seen raining down. As the hundreds of clones charged into the room the first line of fire was shot. Ripples of "disturbance" followed the bullets as they lodged into the different clones, killing them on impact. Sarge raised his hand a second time and let it drop.  
"FFFFFFFIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEEE!!!!!"  
The water continued to rise, now a sickly red. The unarmed clones continued to attempt to make a difference by throwing themselves in front of the flashing rifles. No difference was noticed.  
  
*bbbbbb-ZWING*  
*babababab-ZWING ZWING ZWING*  
  
Water dripping into his eyes and soaking his fur, Sarge raised his hand for one last time.  
"FFFFFFFIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEEE!!!!!"  
More clones flipped backwards, dead, as they tried to assault through the all-too-small opening. Various "clicks" of no ammo were heard.  
"GGGGGEEEETTT 'EEEEEMMMM!!!"  
They threw down their weapons and ran at the clones, armed with fists and sharp objects alone.  
  
Using the other's counter attack as cover Sarge went back, with the real FlatFeet close at hand, to carry out the plan. He sloshed over to the main tangle of pipes. Sarge places his hand in the water and began his search. Chael ran past, glad to be in battle again.  
"Goin' fishin' Sarge? Bit early ain't it?"  
"Got it!" He lifted the giant spanner triumphantly. Flatfeet was scratching a sign on his arm with his knife. Sarge looked puzzled.  
"So you can recognise me!"  
"Oh right."  
Sarge turned to look down the hallway where the rest of the boys (and girl) were punching, kicking and slicing. Suddenly he whistled twice. That was the signal.  
"Hold yer breath Flatfeet!"  
  
He aimed at the medium sized hole in the row of pipes. He placed the spanner so that it will hit most of them.  
"One..." Deja drew a deep breath.  
"Two..." Mon inhaled sharply thrice then took one long breath.  
"And..." The rest followed suit.  
"Three!" he yelled before taking a breath of his own.  
  
He brought the spanner down in a small arc and the steel smashed into the relatively soft pipe iron. Water gushed forth, the pressure shooting Sarge and Flatfeet towards the opening. The rest were swept along as the water quickly started to flood the hall. The clones were caught off guard and the pressure of the rushing water killed many on impact. Others drowned right away, not having learned to swim in their few hours of life. It worked. But soon they noticed how very, very wrong they were.


	14. Trapped like rats

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N This is how far the first one got. So I'm outdoing myself technically. Then there's the re-reading to get the final draft…uggg. I wish things were simpler. Anyway.)  
  
Chapter 14: Trapped like rats…  
  
Neck high in water and starting to tread Sarge called out.  
"Is everybody alright?" One by one they answered  
"Yeah. Fine. Thanks for asking..." The brown buoy that was the "sponged up" WWW floated in between the Platoon. Many started to chuckle under the breath.  
"Sorry about leaving back there...Don't know what got over me."  
  
"I hate water!!!" Ricy whined. The water stuck to his feathers like glue. "Look sorry to spoil the moment but," he pointed towards the ceiling that was coming steadier closer and closer, "We are in deep bat guano!!!"  
"I hope you guys can hold your breath..." started Sarge.  
"What?!? I didn't mean that we shou-" Ricy practically chirped. Sarge took a deep breath then dove under water. The lights dimmed to a ghostly blue as the power failed.  
  
"The water must have reached the generator...hey someone is gonna have to pull me down. I'm kinda buoyant..." stated WWW. Flatfeet tied himself to the Tediz with a piece of dead electrical cord.  
"We're not actually doing this are we?!!?!?" Ricy yelled on deaf ears. Deja and Squeaky smiled identical grins. Ricy moaned. They dove. Chael dove under too, followed by CoolGuy and RedStorm. Soon only Ricy, Mon and Pyst remained.   
  
"Well...this is it...See you at the other side guys..." said Mon smiling.  
"Come on...guys! There has to be another way! Maybe if we stick together…" Ricy searched for an excuse but found none.  
"If we stay any longer we're dead dog-meat...Look! I can touch the ceiling! I'm outta here!"  
  
*puh-loosh*  
  
"We only got one life to live any way..." mumbled Pyst. Ricy floated alone.  
"Guys?"  
  
_*guys...-uys...-ys...-s...*  
  
_"Oh man..." With a pained look on his face he dived under too, following Pyst.  
  
-Else where-  
"**_WhErE hAvE tHeY gOnE?"_ **hissed a deep menacing voice.  
"We don't know sir," replied one of the two Technicians, "The water knocked out our beacon. We can just barely follow #987's signal."  
"**_So ThEy WaNt To SwIm Eh? SeNd OuT GnAsHeR."  
_**"Gnasher? The shar-" began the second Technician. The Voice growled.  
"Sir yes sir!" The Technicians chimed in unity.  
  
-Back with the Platoon-  
  
Everyone was swimming in the flooded hall. Sarge looked up and pointed to an air pocket at the top. Everyone soon was gasping for air in the small ceiling space. Deja felt something continuously bump along her legs. She looked over at the closest squirrel, Mon.  
"You trying to be fresh with me?"  
"What no I- Wazzat?"  
"Whot's whot?," inquired ILZ.  
Mon did some further looking around.  
"Hey Deja, did you just...Deja? Hey guys, any of you seen Deja?"  
  
She was in fact not there.  
Neither was her cousin.   
"Wait now where in the blue moon is Sarge?" He turned around. Bubbles were the only things visible.  
"G-guys? Guuuys?"  
Something violently grabbed his ankle and Mon was swept underneath.  
  
"Dive, dive, dive, dive, dive! Let's get outta here!," Oreos, the second in command, yelled. They were soon underwater again, looking for the three missing - or so they hoped - Squirrels. They saw a piece of Sarge's uniform. A small, green, piece of army fatigues. They swam towards a bend. As they turned the corner…  
  
"BLEJA!!!" Air escaped from Pyst's mouth making him incomprehensible, but the meaning was clear. He swam to the unconscious Squirrel. He lifted her up to the tiny air pocket in the corner. Behind them Pyst saw Chael surfacing with Mon, who's leg was bleeding terribly. The rest of the team surfaced. Mon coughed up water and snapped his eyes open. He began to scream uncontrollably.  
  
"GET OFF!! GET OFF!!! GET OFF!!!"  
"Relax Mon...it's us..." cooed Chael. Mon swam to the corner and shivered uncontrollably. Pyst looked stricken at the still knocked out Deja.  
  
"She...She's not waking up guys..."  
"You did the best you could do," Dark swallowed emotion he couldn't show. He had to keep up his part.  
"No! Help me out here! Somebody! Hold her head..." pleaded Pyst. Twisted swam next to Deja as RedStrom supported her body. Pyst moved close to her head. He drew a shaky breath.   
  
"One..." Pyst tilted her head back and pinching her nose, he breathed air back into her soggy lungs. He pumped his hands on her chest.  
"Two, three, four. One," he breathed air back into her mouth. "Two three four."  
"You is dead mon...Serge is gonna cut your…well ya know whatta mean…" ILZ commentated. Suddenly Deja's chest heaved and gurgling noises were heard.  
"Wha??? WHAT?!?!" She slapped Pyst silly, "DON'T!! YOU!!! EVER!!! DO!!! THAT!!! AGAIN!! YOU!! HEAR!!!"   
  
Chael, WWW and Ricy sniggered to themselves.  
"You got something to contribute gentlemen?" She drew back a fist, "I sure as hell wanna hear it!"  
"Nothing ma'am," they barked.  
"That's better. Now, where's Rico?"  
  
For the first time in a long time Mon spoke.  
  
"It...It was horrible. He was there swimming towards Deja as she floated away when this...this thing. It looked like it was made from living steel. It just came up in front of him and...and..." He vomited and the chunks floated around him, "Sorry about that..."  
  
Oreos went and rubbed his back in a supportive way.  
  
"Then it turned. Oh God...those eyes...those little beady black eyes...It's the devil you know. As he turned he chomped down on my leg. Pain...unimaginable, unspeakable pain. As I was dying for breath I reached to my neck and then like a miracle, I found my cross there," he held it up. A dark black liquid dripped off the edges, "And by pure luck, or not so much luck, I got it in the eye...But Sarge...I don't think he made it...I...I tried guys...honestly I did..."  
  
-Cut to The Voice's room-  
"**_HaS GnAsHeR cAuGhT aNyOnE yEt?"  
_**"Yes," answered the Technician, "The big one. He's being held in the steel rib cage."  
"**_GoOd. ThAt WaS aN iNgEnIoUs InVeNtIoN. A mEtAlLiC, sWiMmInG, pRiSoN. VeRy WeLl DeSiGnEd"  
_**"Thank you sir."  
"**_ReCaLl GnAsHeR. We'Ll UsE hIm As BaIt."  
_**"It will be done my liege."  
  
"Dammit. First we came here to stop Tediz, then it was to get WWW and turn him back to normal, now Sarge is missing!" complained Oreos.  
"Don't forget this. Stupid water...Good thing I'm not wearing a white shirt," murmured Deja. Bubbles appeared in front of FlatFeet. A disgusting smell filled the air.  
  
"FlatFeet! You just had to let one go!" Oreos gagged.  
"Well sorry. I had beans this morning," FlatFeet answered.  
"I don't think any Squirrel or Tediz could produce a smell like that, I think you should see a doctor," Mon said as he reeled.  
"I'm talking to one right now."  
"Ugh. Well, we'll start with the probing once we get back."  
"Ouch...well, let's go find Sarge. How'd he disappear?" Oreos asked.  
"I told you I saw something grab onto him then pull him under," said Mon.  
"The same thing got me too. Something's watching us..." Deja looked at the eerie blue water.  
"Come on, let's go. We're not getting anything done by floating around here, there's enough airspace here to dogpaddle it out," said Pyst.  
  
Soon after they had moved on bubbles appeared in front of FlatFeet again.  
"FlatFeet! Not again!"  
"Hey! It wasn't me!"  
"Then what--" started Oreos. Then in a large splash Special Agent 00-Oreos was gone.   
Frantically he punched and kicked blindly in the murky water when he hit something soft.   
  
"Shit! what the hell got Oreos?" Snickers wailed. Blood filled the water.  
"Oh sick!"  
"Damn! What the fuck happened to Oreos?!" A dead Tediz floated to the surface, lying with its face in the water.  
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ght…" said Squeaky. Pyst flipped the Tediz over and took the goggles. He swam down.  
  
At the bottom, Oreos was breathing into the Tediz oxygen tank. Pyst motioned to Oreos to swim up. Oreos pointed at his speared leg. Harpoon and all. Pyst carried him to the surface  
  
"That Tediz bastard got me in the leg! Scuba Tediz. This mission gets weirder every time. I can't swim like this!"  
"Quick, take the harpoon out of your leg!"  
  
Gritting his teeth Oreos yanked the harpoon out.  
"Well, at least it wasn't WWW...hey, where is that guy?" asked RedStorm. Triple W was gone.  
  
"Ready?" asked Stealth, "...on 3. 1...2...3!"   
  
"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**"  
  
"Oreos, you scream like girl," mocked CoolGuy.  
"Shut up...hey...look!"  
"I don't believe it"  
"We just do not get a break do we?"  
"Not fair!"  
*groan*


	15. Chess

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N Well it's nearly over. The story is winding up and I couldn't be happier. I'm fresh out of ideas. I believe Escape From Batula's Castle will have to wait, that one is nearly double this. The title comes into play at the end. Explaining the title: Chess is a game of both strategy and…sacrifices. Read and Review.)  
  
Chapter 15: Chess  
  
They had entered the section of the base that was not flooded. Yet. The wall had suddenly given way. 20 or so Tediz who were relieving their selves in the bathroom found themselves facing very wet, very pissed off soldiers. The shark fin slicing through the water and racing for the water-dry land boundary broke the stillness.  
  
The Platoon clambered frantically into the once-was bathroom. Deja fiercely kicked a Tediz into the water, where his body sponged up. The others followed suit. The Tediz cried pleas of help as they saw their fellows being torn to shreds by the rabid creature, and knowing that they awaited the same fate. WWW appeared behind the group. He had floated off when the line between him and FlatFeet was cut.  
  
The last Tediz made a futile attempt to escape. The shark bit it round the head and shook it violently in pure animal rage. WWW armed a grenade and he tossed it into the greedily awaiting mouth. It exploded and to everyone's surprise the head shattered into metallic pieces. The body fell behind, miniscule wiring devices visible where the head used to be.  
  
Deja leapt at WWW. She kicked him into the water. Everyone looked shocked at her.  
"You idiot! Don't you get it?! Rico has no way of surviving that! You're just like every other Tediz! Self-centred and heartless!!"  
"I…I didn't think…"  
"That's exactly my point!!"  
"I'm sor-"  
  
WWW was yanked underwater. Violent impact noises were heard under the water. Everyone's faces lit up. Only one person *WHAMS* like that.  
  
***WHAM**CRASH**PUNCH*  
  
**"BLONT BLOO EBLA BLOO BLAT TO BLEE ABLEN!!!!" A surge of bubbles then...  
"Sarge!"  
She leapt into the water and swam over to him. As she went to touch him blue sparks passed from his body to her fingers.  
"Not just yet." They laughed. WWW floated up next to them with a bruised eye.  
"Good to have you back Sa-"   
  
*WHAM*  
  
-The Control Room-  
The first Technician, shaking from head to toe, walked up to The Voice.  
"S-s-sir?"

**_"HhMmMm…"  
_**"Sir, they, they destroyed Gnasher sir. Sir! No, sir plea-"  
  
*KA-BLAM*  
**_"OrDeR  aLl UnDeRwAtEr UnItS tO ThE SiTe. FlOoD cHaMbErS 237 to 358"  
_**"It shall be done…"  
  
-At The Site-  
A whirring noise could be heard coming from all around them. The Platoon stared helplessly, not knowing what was happening. The door to the bathroom burst with incredible pressure and the Platoon were swept along the length of the base. After some time they slowed to near stop. Tediz could be seen taken off guard by the sudden water. They were no threat. The jet-propelled Scuba Tediz were.  
  
"Attack!"  
  
The water was at knee height. But rising ever so slowly. Snickers saw a Tediz aiming helplessly as the water pushes him around. Snickers grabbed his throwing knife and threw it at the Tediz causing his stomach to burst green ooze all over FlatFeet. Snickers grabbed his knife out the Tediz stomach and flicked it around into his belt. He grabbed the spear gun out of the dead Tediz hands and slid it in his back pouch. As the room filled up halfway the Platoon fought on helplessly and aimlessly looking for away out......  
  
The fight continued, the Platoon fighting with any weapon they could lay paws on. Water splashed into the air as vicious attacks struck. Greenish blood mixed with the usually clear liquid. The battle seemed as if it wouldn't end. Out of the blue, a Tediz head was removed from its shoulders. The body fell. The assailant was nowhere to be seen.   
  
Suddenly, Dark dropped in from the shadowy ceiling. His sword drawn, he began his merciless attack. The steel blade of Dark's sword was a blur when he swung it. It beheaded a nearby Scuba. The Tediz fell into the water, spurting more of the green blood that had been oozing out of every Tediz that died.   
  
The Tediz picked up on the presence of the panther and more began to run at him. The front one felt the blade pierce his insides. The army of Tediz mixed with more Scuba Tediz dashed at him. Dark quickly slashed the Scuba to the right's diaphragm, making the greenish blood fill its lungs and suffocate it. The Scuba on the left lashed out, catching Dark's cheek with a knife. Dark lunged at it with anger, shoving his sword into its chest. The blade severed the bear's aorta, making blood not possible to flow to other parts of the body, disabling all the limbs and pretty much killing it.   
  
Pyst charged down the corridors, shotgun in hand.  
"Mon! On your left!"  
A Scuba glided towards Mon. Pyst blew its jet clean off, Mon put a bullet in the Scuba's head.  
"Thanks man!" said Mon.  
"No prob!" The remaining Scuba Tediz made a quick retreat.  
  
"Did we get em?" asked Ricy.  
"Probably just scared them off," said FlatFeet.  
"Keep your guard up!" Sarge ordered. Pyst slinked over to Deja.  
"Hey, uh, about that mouth-to-mouth bit earlier. I know you don't really want some trigger-happy psycho putting his lips on yours," he began.  
"Pyst!" she yelled.  
"Don't get angry! Let me finish!"  
"Behind you!"  
Pyst turned, in time to see a shark fin speed towards them.   
"Its another one of those metallic-shark thingies!"  
Pyst loaded up his shotgun and fired. The buckshot seemed to have no effect. He chambered another round and fired again. The shark accelerated, it thrust out of the water and opened its mighty jaws. Pyst shoved Deja into her cousin's protective arms. The shark snapped its jaws onto Pyst's leg.  
  
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!!! COME ON! BITE ME MUTHA FUCKER!!!"  
The shark dragged Pyst under and sped away, leaving a trail of blood in the water. Pyst could be heard cursing in the distance, till finally, he went silent...  
  
"Damn..." Sarge whispered. The pressure became too much for the upper levels (**2**04-**3**67) to hold. Sarge looked up in time to see the cracks forming on the walls and ceiling. A Scuba Tediz started to glide towards him, harpoon outstretched when...  
  
***GGGgGgRrRrRroOOoOOOaAaAAaNnnNNnnn*  
  
**Sarge twisted the harpoon around stabbing the Tediz. He took off the air tanks and mask. He looked at Deja.  
"If I don't come back with him, I'm not coming back at all. Don't worry. Keep a seat warm for us on the boat. Kay? Tell the guys not to follow. Tell them, fix WWW then get outta here. We'll be back by then. If we're not..." He left it hanging.  
"Shhh. Shutup and go," she whispered.  
"This place is gonna flood any second now. Look," he pointed to the ceiling. "Take this." He handed her the oxygen tank.  
"You can't make it through there on one breath." Sarge snorted. Then he smiled.  
"I got big lungs. Be right back." He placed the mask on, hugged her and filling his lungs with air, he dove under. He followed the faint trail of blood.  
  
Deja ran/swam back to the rest of the Platoon.  They finished off the remaining Tediz and ran to Deja.  
"Where's Sarge?" asked Ricy.  
"What's wrong" questioned Stealth.  
"He's ok isn't he?" asked Squeaky.  
"Did he find Pyst?" Oreos queried. Deja shivered but she refused to break out into sobs.  
"H-he's gone t-t-to bring back Pyst. He told us to fix WWW-or something-and go to the b-boat. We gotta get outta here, the place is gonna cave in with all the water damage.  
  
"We can't leave here without him!!!" yelled Mon.  
"Lets go and find him!!!" added Snickers.  
"No!!! I know he means a lot to you guys, and he means a lot to me too, but he told us to just go to the boat." She stifled the urge to run to a corner and break down. Like Dark, she had a part to play. She noticed that large cracks began to appear in the walls.  
  
"He s-said we'd meet in the helicopter. He usually does what he says." A loud boom was heard when one of the support beams of the room collapsed. Bits of plaster from the ceiling rained down. The platoon all raised their hands to cover their eyes.  
"She's right! This place is gonna crash!!" warned Chael.  
"Look mon! Tha' exit! Light!" yelled ILZ.  
  
"Sir they're going to run for it."  
**_"HoW  pRrEdIcTaBlE. ShUt ThE gAtE. SnIpEr, I wAnT yOu PoSiTiOnEd OuTsIdE iN cAsE aNy Of ThEm MaKe It OuT."  
_**"Yes sir." The Master left the control room.  
**_"I wAnT tHeM aLl DeAd. No MoRe MeSsInG wItH tHeIr MiNdS. It EnDs HeRe. NoW."  
_**"Yes sir."  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
  
*BLEEE-T BLEEE-T BLEEE-T*  
  
The walls were sustaining obvious damage now. Mini-geysers of water were spurting out pressurised nails at high speed. They were shooting out of the wall with the force of a small cannon. Twisted ducked as one went whizzing past his head. It shredded the concrete behind him. He swallowed hard. He looked at the corridor they had to cross to get to the outside. A rectangle of light, guarded by nails that could cause your head to explode like a soggy cantaloupe, that seemed to be so, so far away…  
  
"LETS GO!!! MOVE IT OUT!!! WE'RE NEARLY THERE!" Dark surged forward dashing with all of his feline grace.  
"WE'RE HOME FREE!" started Stealth. Then his voice wavered. "THE GATE IS CLOSING!!!!"  
True too, too true. The door was dropping mechanically and methodically to a close and sealing their doom in one blow. Oreos' heart skipped a beat.  
  
In an instant he saw all his life flash in front of his eyes. He was in charge at that moment and he had let them all down. He remembered, as he stood there cold and soaking wet, when on rainy days he used to curl up in a blanket and watch James Bond reruns over and over again. Dr. No, Moonraker, Live and Let Die, GoldenEye, GoldFinger…  
  
"THAT'S IT!" He snatched Mon's medic helmet. "Odd Job, don't fail me now!"  
"Hey! What are you doing with my helmet!?!?!"  
  
He flung the helmet with all his might and will power. It skimmed lightly over the water…once…twice…three times…and landed directly underneath the closing gap. The hat started to crumple, and Oreos' heart sank. Then…  
  
"IT WORKED!"  
  
The hat was keeping the door open by a thin slit. But it was enough. Dark was closest to the door. He quickly tore out the mainframe operating the door. CoolGuy and RedStorm ran near and used every last ounce of strength they could muster to shove the door back into an upright position. When they had, Dark wedged his body underneath, holding the rigid steel in place.  
**"NOW!"  
  
** Mon and Oreos ran at the rear. The others ran past the sweating, struggling panther. They couldn't know.  
The last flat head nail vibrated rigidly in its place. It was all that held the structure together. It vibrated violently, putting up a final battle. Then the pressure became too great.  
  
Mon didn't even have enough time to think about screaming. Before he knew it his leg was a bloody mess. As he fell back, stunned into silence, he saw It.  
Billions of gallons of water packed into the all too small corridor raced like liquid stallions towards the Platoon.  
Oreos doubled back and grabbed Mon by the shoulders.  
  
"It's all over…don't even try…" he muttered.  
"You're gonna hate me for this later!" Oreos yelled as he kicked Mon in the back. The Squirrel went sliding along the water towards the exit as Oreos also flung himself. They slid fast towards the way out where the others awaited.  
Lucky they had put distance between them and the wave because when it did hit it wasn't as strong as it was at first.  
  
They all went down; hit with a force rivalling a Flak 88 shot a close range.  
  
They slipped, slid and were washed in a blurry heap outside. More water carried them and they were flung violently into the dunes.  
  
Someone aimed for ILZ's head and shot silently.


	16. The Grande Finale

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**

(A/N The big tamale. The final chapter. It's long but its well worth it. I'll talk to you guys after the credits roll…)  
  
Chapter 16: The Grand Finale  
  
-~-Meanwhile-~-  
*thump thump*  
*thump thump*  
*thump thump*  
  
Sarge could hear gunfire behind him but he pressed on. They had gotten out of tougher situations before. Besides, he had made his promise. He was looking for a clue, something, anything that could show him where the Sharkiz bastard had taken Pyst. A twinkling was evident, jabbed with startlingly accuracy to point upwards. Pyst's army knife. Sarge smiled. He had trained them well. He turned his gaze upwards. He released an air bubble of surprise.  
  
A long, long shaft ran upwards to a little postage-stamp-sized square of light. And there hanging in the water, like some crude metallic mockery of a crucifixion, floated the Sharkiz. Sarge felt a cramping pain in his stomach. Air, air, that was it, get to the air.  
  
*thump th-thump*  
*thump th-thump*  
*thump th-thump*  
  
 Sarge's heart beat faster and faster. Panic! Panic surged through him. He would never make it. He would struggle upwards, against the feeling of his burning muscles, against his lungs screaming for air till he would open his mouth to try to breathe. Then he would guzzle the water and slip into unconsciousness, sinking slowly to a watery grave.  
  
He cleared his head of the image. But it was so far away. He had rose too quickly. He knew it, felt it in the way that his head spun, his eyes were lolling around in his head. He knew it in the way that his lungs were in spasms, dieing to take that last gulp of air. He had made it to the neutralized Sharkiz.  
"N-not now…so close," he pleaded his slowing limbs, "I…made a…promi-"  
  
He stopped paddling completely. He was too far lost to feel sad. He was too far to feel regret. He didn't even feel the strong Tediz paws that hoisted him upwards…  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
  
Black. That was the first thing he noticed. Pitch black. He tried to move his hands and found they were bound. He opened his eyes. Black.  
"Who put out the lights?" he managed to gurgle. For the first time he became aware of the presences in the room. Someone was breathing through controlled sobs.  
"Man, Sarge, he went in to get you but it was, it was too late. Man, pressure Sarge…you're…you're…" Pyst.  
Sarge knew what was next. He snuffed a breath.  
  
"Don't worry about it Pyst. I never thought it'd end like this. Sorry kiddo." Pyst ignored the last bit.  
"O.K. Sarge. O.K."  
  
**_"HoW vErY, tOuChInG. StOp PlEaSe, I'm GoInG tO bE sIcK."  
_**"Who the hell are you?" demanded Sarge.  
**_"I Am EvErYtHiNg, YeT i Am NoThInG. I, RiCo, Am ThE oNe WhO sHaLl BrInG yOuR dOoM. YoU aNd YoUr 99 BuFfOoNs."  
_**"You're the head honcho."   
**_"In LaYmAn TeRmS – YeS. CaN wE pLeAsE dRoP tHe PrEtEnCe?"  
_**"We'll cut the bull if you do," retorted Pyst. A striking sound was heard.  
**_"WeLl DoNe #987. YoU hAvE sErVeD yOuR MaStEr WeLl."  
_**"Yes sir." WWW.  
  
*beep-BEEP*  
*beep-BEEP*  
*beep-BEEP*  
  
"What the?" asked WWW. Pyst laughed.  
"Looks like it ain't all gonna be peaches and cream for you guys. Way to go Oreos!"  
**_"A MiNoR sEtBaCk. ThE MaStEr SnYpA wIlL tAkE cArE oF aNy EsCaPeEs."  
  
_**Then a second alarm rang, one hinting more danger.  
  
**_"I'm AfRaId SeRgEaNt MaJoR RoDrIgUeZ aNd SeRgEaNt GoReS. I mUsT cUt oUr ViSiT sHoRt. #987, CoMe."  
  
_**Sarge tensed up. He didn't hear the sound of Tediz feet scuffing the floor.  
  
**_"#987! ThE eScApE pOdS! CoMe! ThE wAtEr PrEsSuRe WiLl DeStRoY tHe IsLaNd. We MuSt EsCaPe."  
_**"WWW!" Pyst yelled out.  
**_"#987!"  
_**"Sergeant Thomas "WWW" Warclat! Hold your ground! That is a direct Order from your Commanding Officer!" Sarge barked.  
**_"WaRcLaT iS dEaD. He Is An ImAgE tHaT mUsT bE fOrGoTtEn. CoMe WiTh Me #987, ToGeThEr, My LeAdErShIp AnD yOu UnDeR mY cOmMaNd – We CoUlD tAkE oVeR tHe WoRlD. JoIn Me."_**  
"You wanna join this piece of shit!" Pyst roared. He flung his legs out and kicked a figure out of the shadows.  
  
It was wrapped in a black cloak, and wore black gloves. The right paw lacked two fingers. The left arm was exposed to the light – wrinkled, dead in appearance. His once beady black eyes were now a clear white. His face, if you could call it a face, was mutilated beyond recognition.  But at once everyone knew. The Commander drew his cloak over himself.  
  
**_"YeS #987, yOu DiDn'T dO a VeRy GoOd JoB oF kIlLiNg Me."  
_**"You!" Pyst accused, "You! Behind it all! How long has he been under your control?"  
**_"SiNcE tHe BeGiNnInG. AnOmAlIeS dOn'T aPpEaR tHaT oFtEn BuT wHeN tHeY dO tHeY aRe MoNiToReD. We JuSt DiDn'T gEt ReAdInGs TiLl #987 tApPeD iNtO hIs MeMoRy BaNk AnD tHe ChIp LoCaTeD tHaT oNe MeMoRy, OnE tIeD In wItH uS."  
_**"A chip driven by guilt."  
**_"We'Re SmArTeR tHaN wE lOoK."  
_**"Thank the Lord for that."  
**_"PlAy TiMe Is OvEr #987 wE mUsT lEaVe NoW."_**  
  
But WWW was remembering something…something that happened quite some time ago.  
  
**_*FLASH*  
  
_**He was carrying Oreos down the beach, on another island far, far, away from this one. And there it had been where for a few seconds he was the machine. But Oreos was alive. He had told him…  
  
_"WWW, you are one of a kind. You are neither Tediz; nor Squirrel you are… you are Private Thomas "WWW" Warclat of the 99th Platoon, fellow patriot, soldier and friend."  
  
_Another one; Sarge limping through the old Komiz base…  
  
_"Long time so see…soldier."  
  
_He heard voices: they were all mixed in his head, Pyst, Sarge, The Commander. Spinning, spinning…  
  
_Heinrich slashing madly at WWW and FlatFeet throwing himself into harms way.  
He saw himself standing at Flatfeet and Cherry's wedding, all dressed up in a tux. Sarge had just forgotten the words. They were laughing.  
  
Pyst was laughing hard with Squeaky and CuMiT. The eternal drunken frat buddies.  
  
Dark, all alone with no one in the world but The Platoon, smiling for the first time in a long time.  
  
Deja and Ricy trading insults with each other, Mon sighing hard in the background.  
  
ILZ and Chael shooting bottles in mid-air at Stealth's house after The Heist. Stealth shaking his head and mumbling something about the mess.  
  
RedStorm and CoolGuy playing a game of cards with WWW.  
  
Snickers and Twisted passing out on Anthrax's floor, Anthrax dumping ice all over them.  
  
Ajax leaping at Tediz throats with paws alone when the Tediz Attacked.  
  
All the others from the first mission, way back when: Percival, Michael, Cartman, Viper, Gamer and Ender. They were soldiers; they were brothers; they were friends.  
  
***FLASH*  
  
**_WWW felt something trickling out of his ear. The chip had liquefied.  
"I'm back."   
Sarge smiled.  
"About time."  
**_"ThEn I mUsT lEaVe."_**  
  
**_*fw-tseew*_**  
  
WWW untied Pyst and Sarge.  
"He's gone Sarge. Sorry…"  
"Save that for later, we need a way outta here fast! WWW! Get in the water, then Pyst pull out…"  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
  
The Master Sniper took aim at ILZ's exposed head. Quick, clean shot. Then the rumbling started. Sniper looked all around him…but down. The sound was enough to rival a supersonic boom. A column of water burst out from beneath The Master's feet. It was over for him before it had begun.  
  
Pillars of water were erupting all over the island. Column after column began to dot the terrain. The Platoon had come round and ran to their concealed vessel. But Sarge and the others were nowhere to be found.  
  
"DEJA! GET IN THE DAMN BOAT NOW! THAT IS AN ORDER SOLDIER!" Oreos screamed over the sound of Niagara Falls falling upwards then raining down.  
  
Deja was staring panic stricken at the erupting landscape. They were nowhere in sight. She bit her lip hard. Stealth touched her on the shoulder.  
"Get. Off. Me," she growled. Stealth gripped her tighter. Deja exploded.  
"**GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME! HE PROMISED!**" she choked on rage and sadness. Stealth gulped.  
  
"C'mon Deja…"  
"**HE WOULD NEVER LEAVE YOU GUYS! WHAT ABOUT PYST?! WWW?! HE PROMISED! HE'D COME BACK TO ME…they…**they…"  
  
Ricy drew breath. They all did. Deja never cried. If Deja broke down… Squeaky stared hard into her eyes.  
"Keep it together…" he willed, "Keep it together Deja…"  
  
Deja made a sound like some sort of injured animal. She stumbled out towards the base. Stealth walked up behind her.  
"Forgive me." He punched her hard in the back of the head. Deja fell to her knees.  
"He promised me…" she whispered. Stealth sniffed hard and rubbed his eyes on the back of his paw. He picked up the limp Squirrel and ran to the boat. FlatFeet was already manning the helm. He swallowed hard and looked at Oreos.  
Oreos nodded.  
  
The engine roared into life and the speedboat leapt through the choppy waves. Then it happened.  
The whole island just imploded. It caved in upon itself sucking down gallons of water with it. Chael looked on in awe. Then he stopped.  
  
"Newton's Third Law. Action-Reaction." His eyes snapped open, "FASTER!"  
"What?"  
"TSUNAMI!"  
  
It rose out of the sinkhole – a gigantic walking wall of water. It towered over them. The boat suddenly seemed very, very small.  
"FASTER!"  
"IT'S GETTING CLOSER!"  
"MOVE IT!"  
"AHHHHHHHH!"  
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" FlatFeet screamed.  
"DUDE! TWO MORE SECONDS AND WE'LL ALL BE SHUT UP FOR GOOD!"  
  
It was true, the distance between the boat and the wave was closing significantly. FlatFeet looked around frantically for an answer. He smiled. Then he pressed the Little Red Button.  
  
*buh-WHOOOOSSSSSSHHH*  
  
Giant engines flipped out of the sides of the boat and fired liquid nitrogen mixed with oxygen (two parts petrol). The boat sped away from the wave. They couldn't even hear the Beach Boys blaring above them.  
  
Sarge, Pyst and WWW straddled the Sharkiz. Unfortunately when WWW hotwired it there was a side effect.  
"This is the third time it's playing _Surfing U.S.A._ can't you get it to shut up?" asked Sarge.They were surfing the Surfer's dream. The Sharkiz proved to be a useful "surf board".   
"It's the only way out Sarge, hop off if you don't like it."  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
  
The boat had travelled far, leaving the wave behind it to die out. Fatigue, hunger or some mix of both had taken its toll. Everyone was asleep.  
  
_*Everybody go surfing…surfing U.S.A.*  
  
_"I think we're interrupting something…" someone mumbled. Another voice laughed.  
"What is it?" a third asked.  
"They're asleep."   
Deja's eyes snapped open.  
  
"GUYS!" She threw her arms around the three of them. Others started waking up. Oreos stared at them in disbelief. He walked towards them.  
"Sarge…I left you…I shouldn't…"  
"Don't worry about it. It was the right thing to do at the time. You did okay Oreos. And that's what matters…"  
"Okay." He paused "Sarge?"  
"Yeah."  
"Your eyes…"   
  
Mon sidled up. He twisted open a cap with his teeth. The bottle was labelled _"Eye Drops"_ He dropped six drops in each eye.  
  
"There. You can thank me later." Every one gazed directly into their Sergeant's eyes.  
He blinked.  
Once.  
Twice.  
Three times.  
  
A tear formed in his eye. He saw them. He **saw** them. Tediz, Squirrel and Panther. They were all there. They were all in a way…it was corny but he had to say it…  
  
"Isaste oli palikaria mou."  
"You speak Greek?!" Sarge laughed.   
"There are a lot of things about me you don't know…but lets save that for another time…Let's go home shall we?"

  
-=***=-

*Panoramic view as the boat starts up and roars off towards the shore. Then in close ups: Sarge gives his cousin a fatherly hug. Cherry kisses FlatFeet on the cheek. Pyst and Oreos shake hands. Dark nods at Stealth, Stealth nods back. Ricy and Mon sit back relaxing, along with RedStorm and CoolGuy while Twisted and Squeaky laugh at the whole situation. Chael pats Ricy on the shoulder. ILZ offers Snickers a cigarette. Snickers laughs and gratefully accepts it. WWW steers the ship and smiles. Then he sighs*  
  
"What a wonderful world…"

  
Fade to black


	17. Credits

**The 99th Platoon – WWW's Dream: Uniting the Tediz  
  
**Credits  
  


Sergeant Major Rico "Sarge" Rodriguez: "Gappap"  
Special Agent 00-Oreos: "PatrickSim"  
Sergeant Chael: "Chael"  
Sergeant Thomas "WWW" Warclat: Thomas "WWW.whydowecare.ca" Blight  
Sergeant Rick "Pyst" Gores: Matt "Pyst Dude" Bujold  
Sergeant Joshua "Flatfeet" Evans: Josh "Flatfeet" Evans  
Sergeant Squeaky Fuzz Acore: Tony "Squeaky" Lucero a.k.a. "Zepa" or "Squeaky the Zepa"  
Sergeant Stealth LeVasseur: Christian "Stealthkiller300" Levasseur  
Corporal Renato "DaMedic" Mon: Renato "DaYetiMon" Whitaker  
Corporal DarkFlame: Ryan "Dark05" Miralos Gonzales  
Corporal Iron Lion Zion: Riley "Shadow Sniper" Kale Silva  
Corporal Dana "Déjà vu" Rodriguez: "Dejavu"  
Corporal Samuel Snickers: "SkaterX"  
Corporal RedStorm: "DustyX"  
Corporal Kenny "CoolGuy" Johnson: Jose "Retroman87" Daniel Osechas  
Corporal Twisted: Josh "RazielUnlimited" Cloos  
Private "Ricy": Richard "Ricyfood" Allen  
  
Guest starring:  
Anthrax the bartender: "Anthraxz"  
Cherry the fiancée: as herself  
The Commander: as himself  
Conker T. Squirrel: as himself  
  


--Started by WWW, written and directed by Gappap--  
  


In a small rectangle the following is seen  
*Pyst walks up to Deja*  
PYST "So, uh... you and me...are we ok?"  
DEJA "How so?"  
PYST "Well, you know about the CPR bit awhile back, the fact that Sarge will kick my ass if I get too close to you and also the fact-"  
*He drones on for a while. Deja puts up a hand*  
DEJA "We're cool Pyst, we're cool."  
PYST "Great."  
*He puts his arm around her shoulders*  
PYST "Deja, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship…"  
DEJA "We're not that cool…"  
*Pyst draws back quickly*  
PYST "Ah."  
  


No Squirrels, Tediz, Komiz or Panthers were harmed in the making of this picture.  
  
**~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-THE END~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-  
  
**

Notes from the Author:  
It's been a long road, a long time, and a long while. So what can you expect now? Well there's PatrickSims Tediz Attack- Choose your own adventure coming real soon. The next thing for me to work on is the monster novel (pun) Escape From Batula's Castle. Eric Cartman is working on a 99th Platoon game. Chael said he was going to put up PaintBall – don't know where that one stands. There's probably more that I've forgotten. If you ever want to contact the Platoon go to the Conker's Bad Fur Day boards at www.gamefaqs.com (The best place to Be on the net) and drop a message. We'll find you. I hope you enjoyed yourself, writing these things I get sucked into them too and I hope I may have left a smidgeon of an impression with you. Wishing you all the best – in your writing, your acting and your life.  
-~- G.A.P. (Gappap)


End file.
